Business briefs for April 23, 2004

Friday, April 23, 2004 | 11:03 a.m.

Internet retailer beats expectations

SEATTLE -- Internet retailer Amazon.com Inc. handily beat analysts' expectations for its first-quarter earnings Thursday, crediting the success to low prices and expanded selection.

Amazon reported net income of $111 million, or 26 cents per share, for the quarter ended March 31. The average estimate of analysts surveyed by Thomson First Call was for earnings of 19 cents per share.

Profit skids

NEW YORK -- JetBlue Airways Corp.'s first-quarter profit declined 12.5 percent from a year ago, as increased competition and seasonal sluggishness hurt its bottom line.

New York-based JetBlue Thursday reported net income of $15.2 million, or 14 cents a share, for the latest quarter, compared with $17.4 million, or 17 cents a share, a year earlier.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson First Call had expected first-quarter earnings of 12 cents a share.

Media giant's ad sales jump

NEW YORK -- Viacom Inc., the third-largest U.S. media company, said first-quarter profit rose 60 percent to its highest in more than seven years as advertising sales climbed at its CBS television network and it recorded a tax benefit.

Net income jumped to $710.5 million, or 41 cents a share, from $443.1 million, or 25 cents, a year earlier, the New York- based company said in a statement. The company recorded a gain of $141 million, or 8 cents a share, from resolving a tax audit. Sales rose 12 percent to $6.77 billion from $6.05 billion.

Discounts hurt company profit

REDMOND, Wash. -- AT&T Wireless, which is being sold to rival Cingular Wireless, lost $58 million in the first quarter, blaming high customer turnover and deep discounts offered to new customers.

The results reported Friday amounted to a loss of 2 cents a share for the three months ending March 31, and fell short of Wall Street expectations.