EBAY POUNDED AS IT FAILS IN BID TO TAKE ON AMAZON

EBAY was battered in after-hours trading on Thursday after revealing a sharp drop in profits, which highlighted its struggle against Amazon.

Shares in the online auctioneer fell by as much as 7pc after markets closed, with the firm revealing that income fell to $493m in the second quarter of the year from $496m a year ago.

Also, on a per-share basis, earnings slid 95pc from 38 cents to 2 cents over the second quarter, although they were hit by a $311m charge tied to the realignment of the company’s legal structure. Despite Ebay adding 2m customers across its business in the quarter, investors fear its efforts to move away from its image as a second-hand auction house are failing.

The group has struggled to diversify in an industry dominated by Amazon, which has twice as many customers.

To compete, Ebay has introduced personal recommendations on products, price matching on more than 80,000 deals and free three-day shipping on millions of items.

It has also begun partnerships with cloud-based commerce firms Channel Advisor and Shopify.