Amazon profit slumps 77% as costs surge

Amazon has reported a 77 per cent decline in quarterly profit on heavy spending.

Amazon.com has reported a 77 per cent slump in quarterly income and forecast a potential operating loss in the current quarter, as the company invests heavily in video content and in fast-growing economies such as India.

The company's shares, already up nearly 41 per cent this year, were down 3 per cent at $US1014.75 in after-hours trading.

The world's largest online retailer forecast an operating income of $US300 million ($A376 million) to a loss of $400 million for the current quarter. Analysts had expected operating income in the third quarter of $US931 million, according to FactSet StreetAccount.

The news appeared to be an old refrain on Wall Street: While Amazon consistently posts blockbuster sales growth, its profit has often not kept pace due to thin retail margins and high investment to expand the company's already vast reach in the US economy.

From its origins as an online bookseller, Amazon has jumped into areas that historically had barriers to e-commerce, from apparel to appliances. The spectre of Amazon's disruption now hangs over a dizzying array of industries.

Yet this has come at a cost. Amazon said operating expenses rose 28.2 per cent to $US37.33 billion in the second quarter ended June 30.