Amazon has reported a 42 per cent surge in sales and a 71 per cent leap in net income for the fourth quarter of 2009.
Revenues stood at $9.52 billion (£5.9 billion) for the period, while net profits equated to $384 million (£237.4 million) as the online retailer benefited from the boom in people shopping online for Christmas presents.
International sales, which include those in the UK, Germany, France, Japan and China, increased by 49 per cent compared with the fourth quarter of 2008 to reach $4.56 billion (£2.8 billion).
The figures also reveal Amazon's full-year results, with sales up by 28 per cent to $24.51 billion (£15.1 billion) compared with 2008 and net income rising by 40 per cent to $902 million (£557.7 million).
Amazon says that it expects further growth in the first three months of 2009, forecasting an increase in sales of between 32 and 43 per cent for the period compared with the same time last year.
The results come shortly after Amazon announced that it is finally launching the Kindle e-reader in international markets after the device's success in the US.
It also recently revealed that it is to make a software development kit for the Kindle available so that third parties can develop apps for it in a similar way to Apple's App Store for the iPod, iPhone and now the iPad.
