eBay profit rises, Icahn proposes spin-off

New York - eBay on Wednesday reported a higher profit for the holiday quarter as more transactions were paid with its PayPal service.

The e-commerce company also said activist investor Carl Icahn submitted a proposal to spin off eBay's PayPal business.

Net income for the fourth quarter, which included the holiday season, was $850m, or 65 cents a share, up from $751m, or 57 cents a share, a year earlier. Excluding some items, eBay earned 81 cents per share.

Revenue rose 13.5% to $4.53bn during the quarter. For 2014, eBay forecast revenue of between $18bn and $18.5bn.