Amazon posts drop in Q3 profit

US retail giant Amazon has reported a drop in profit in the third quarter of the year.

In the three months to September 30, the Seattle-based company’s net income came in at 2.9 billion dollars, down from 3.2 billion dollars a year earlier.

But it still marked a return to profit for the retailer after two consecutive quarters of losses.

Net sales increased 15 percent to 127.1 billion dollars, helped by the company’s annual Prime Day.

Looking ahead, Amazon said it expects fourth-quarter net sales to be between 140 billion dollars and 148 billion dollars, representing year-on-year growth of between 2 percent and 8 percent.

Meanwhile, it expects to either make no operating profit, or an operating profit of up to 4 billion dollars, compared to the 3.5 billion dollar profit it made in last year’s Q4.