eBay’s Q1 earnings dip despite Skype, Paypal boost

eBay has just released its first quarter financials for 2009, beating analyst estimates. But, like many other tech companies, the online auctioneer wasn’t exactly immune to the lagging economy.

By the numbers, the San Jose, Calif.-based company cleared $2.02 billion in revenue for the quarter, representing a $171 million loss year-over-year. Though a sizable decline, these figures still beat analysts’ predictions which pegged the auction site around $1.94 billion.

On a per-share basis, eBay’s Q1 net income amounted to 28 cents, which is down from 34 cents from Q1 2008. Company executives attributed this loss to the performance of the dollar, as well as the decline of its core e-commerce properties (eBay, Shopping.com, StubHub, Kijiji) given the economy.

On the bright side, Skype, PayPal, and Classifieds all produced annual revenue growth. Also, eBay’s planned spinoff of Skype into a 2010 IPO is still charging full steam ahead. Below are some highlights from the release:

Auctions — eBay’s core auction business brought in $1.22 billion in revenue, producing an 18% year-over-year decline. Meanwhile, online classifieds revenue increased 23% compared to Q1 2008, while text and graphical advertising revenue trended flat.

Skype — Revenue for the VoIP app grew 21% year-over-year, contributing $153.2 million in revenue for the quarter. The service brought in an additional 37.9 million new users during the period, bringing its registered user count up to 443.2 million.

PayPal — eBay’s payments business saw an 11% revenue increase year-over-year, netting quarterly revenue of $643.0 million. PayPal’s active registered users also saw a bump to 73.1 million, which an increase of 22% year-over-year. Future plans include increased penetration of the service in eBay’s Marketplaces division, and continued growth of Bill Me Later.

For a look at eBay’s full report, be sure to check out the company’s release here.