EBay profit tops forecasts on higher sales

NEW YORK (Reuters) - EBay Inc reported a higher than expected quarterly profit as it sold much more merchandise on its marketplaces and its PayPal payment system was used by more merchants.

EBay said revenue rose 15.9 percent to $2.55 billion, fueled by a 23 percent rise at PayPal and a 12 percent increase at its main marketplaces unit. That beat Wall Street forecasts of $2.48 billion.

Net income for the first quarter, which ended on March 31, was $476 million, or 36 cents per share, compared with $398 billion, or 30 per share, a year earlier. On an adjusted basis, eBay earned 47 cents per share, beating analyst forecasts by a penny, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Gross merchandise volume excluding vehicles rose 8 percent to $14.5 billion.

For the current quarter, eBay is expecting adjusted earnings of 45 cents to 46 cents per share on revenue between $2.55 billion and $2.65 billion.

(Reporting by Phil Wahba, editing by Bernard Orr)