US e-retail MNC Amazon's quarterly profit rises 9-fold

Online giant Amazon has said profit in the second quarter surged ninefold to $857 million, lifted by cloud services as the tech giant expanded its offerings.  Revenues jumped 31 per cent to $30.4 billion, Amazon said in stronger-than-expected results. While Amazon developed a reputation for delivering little or no profit in its retail operations, its earnings have been growing over the past year as it expands into video and new delivery services and boosts its cloud computing unit, Amazon Web Services (AWS). 

The strong profit came a year after earnings of $92 million which began a string of improvements for Amazon. Amazon shares rose 1.5 per cent in after-hours trade. The company has also been building loyalty with its Amazon Prime subscription service, which provides access to its online video and music as well as fast delivery for most items. Amazon has also been expanding globally, notably to India.

"It's been a busy few months for Amazon around the world, and particularly in India -- where we launched a new AWS region, introduced Prime with unlimited free shipping, and announced that Prime Video is coming soon, offering Prime members in India exclusive access to Amazon Original Series and Movies -- including original content featuring top Indian creators and talent," said 

Amazon founder and chief executive Jeff Bezos in a statement.