Amazon profit slumps 77 percent as costs surge

Amazon.com Inc reported a 77 percent slump in quarterly profit as the company invests heavily in areas such as video content and in fast-growing economies such as India.

The world's biggest online retailer said net income fell to $197 million, or 40 cents per share, in the second quarter ended June 30, from $857 million, or $1.78 per share, a year earlier.

Net sales rose 24.8 percent to $37.96 billion.

Amazon, which is in the process of buying upscale grocer Whole Foods Market Inc, has stepped up spending to expand globally, to build warehouses and on new areas.

The company also plans to create more than 130,000 full-time and part-time jobs by mid-2018 to speed up delivery.

(Reporting by Rishika Sadam in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)