Paypal profit surges as it cashes in on online shopping boom
Paypal posted a surge in profit in the fourth quarter as the Covid-19 pandemic sparked a sharp rise in online shopping.
The payments processor posted net profit of $1.6bn (£1.2bn) for the last three months of 2020, up 209 per cent on the same period the year before.
It came on revenue of $6.1bn, which grew by almost a quarter over the period.
The figures capped off a record year for Paypal, which has cashed in on a shift to online purchases as people were forced to stay at home during the pandemic.
The California-based firm said it recorded its strongest ever performance in 2020, with total payment volumes topping $936bn, while it added 73m net new active accounts.
Paypal posted a 22 per cent growth in revenue for the year to $21.5bn, while net profit was also up by a fifth to $3.3bn.
“Paypal delivered record performance in 2020 as businesses of all sizes have digitized in the wake of the pandemic,” said president and chief executive Dan Schulman.
“In this historic year, we released more products than ever before and have dramatically scaled our acceptance worldwide, giving our 377m consumer and merchant accounts even more reasons to use our platform.”
Paypal forecast revenue of $25bn in 2021, with total payment volumes expected to grow in the high 20s on a percentage basis.