eBay profits beat expectations despite dollar hit

Profits for the first three months of 2015 were $626m (£416m), and revenues were $4.45bn, a 4% increase from a year earlier.

However, eBay said that "strengthening dollar significantly impacted first quarter results".

Revenue at eBay would have been 7% higher without that currency headwind.

At payment site PayPal, currency fluctuations were less severe, hurting revenues by 3% as a result of hedging by the site.

eBay said it expected to complete its spinoff of PayPal into a separate company by the third quarter of 2015.

"I feel very good about the performance of our teams at eBay and PayPal. Each business is executing well with greater focus and operating discipline as we prepare to separate eBay and PayPal into independent publicly traded companies," said eBay chief executive John Donahoe in a statement accompanying earnings.

(BBC)