£99m eBay trouncing rival QXL

ONLINE auctions may be the talk of dinner parties up and down the country - but the gap between eBay and its one-time rival QXL Ricardo is now a huge gulf.

The extent of the difference between the two was exposed today after the two companies unveiled financial results.

eBay reported worldwide net profits of £99m on the back of £437m revenues in its third quarter.

Although growth was more startling at QXL Ricardo in the three months to the end of September, the company remains unprofitable and published an operating loss for the second quarter of the year of £136,000 on the back of sales of £1.51m.

The QXL figures did represent a significant improvement, since losses in the same period a year ago were £6.03m and sales this time were 67% ahead on the same three-month period last year.

But the company, one of a diminishing number of dotcom survivors from the boom of the late 1990s, is now considering switching its shares from the official list of the London Stock Exchange to the Alternative Investment Market (Aim).

That company said that conversion of the last tranche of convertible bonds due to mature next month would strengthen the balance sheet and allow the company to move to Aim.

QXL Ricardo‘s chief executive Mark Zaleski said that current trading was in line with expectations.

He added: ?As was the case last year, we expect to see good revenue growth during the next two quarters although the full benefits of our extra investment may not become apparent for a little longer. The last quarter has seen continued growth in a seasonally slow period. Our key markets - Denmark, Norway and Switzerland - have performed well and we will continue to focus our efforts on operations in these countries in the next quarter.‘

Both companies‘ growth has been achieved despite concern about rising levels of fraud on the internet. eBay has had to contend with reports of fraudulent auctions where buyers pay for goods that they never receive.

For its part, QXL Ricardo reported last month that a Polish legal adviser, Przemyslaw Rogowski, had been found guilty on all six counts of breach of professional ethics that were brought against him in connection with his actions involving QXL Poland. A legal tribunal has banned Rogowski practising as a legal adviser for five years.

Separate criminal charges have been brought against him and others in relation to the illegal issue of 92% of the shares in QXL Poland.