Vampires bring rosy glow to Amazon

Amazon has reported a 68 per cent rise in worldwide profits for the first quarter of the year after double-digit sales growth in the United States and its international arm.

The release on DVD of the latest Twilight Saga film – about vampires in a small American town – has proved to be a money-spinner for Amazon.

It contributed to a 45 per cent increase in sales across Amazon's international arm, which amounts to a 37 per cent rise with currency effects stripped out.

Amazon notched up net income of $299m (195m) across the group, up from $177m (115m) a year earlier.

The UK saw strong demand for The Twilight Saga: New Moon DVD featuring Hollywood star Robert Pattinson.

Other top sellers included author Stieg Larsson's trilogy of novels, starting with The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, and the Oscar-winning film The Hurt Locker.

Amazon's global net sales grew 46 per cent to $7.13bn (4.7bn), boosted by a 47 per cent rise in the United States and Canada.

Its first quarter earnings were better than most analysts were expecting, but the firm's outlook for the second quarter suggested sales growth would slow.

For the current quarter, Amazon expects revenues of between $6.1bn to $6.7bn (4bn to 4.4bn), which would be an increase of up to 41 per cent year-on-year.

Revenue from books, CDs, DVDs and other media grew 26 per cent, while electronics and other "general merchandise" revenue increased by 72 per cent.

Jeff Bezos, founder and chief executive of Amazon, said the group remains "heads-down focused on customers".

Electronic book reader Kindle remains its worldwide top selling

product, with the Kindle selection now at 500,000 titles.

But a major competitor to Amazon's Kindle e-reader has launched since the end of the first quarter – Apple's iPad tablet device, which can also wirelessly download books.