Profits down but sales soaring at Amazon

Net sales for the last three months were £29 billion, compared to £23.2 billion for the same period last year.

Earlier, anticipation of good results for the online retail giant saw share prices rise and briefly push Mr Bezos' wealth to £69.6 billion – ahead of Microsoft founder Bill Gates on the Bloomberg rich list.

However, prices fell back and Mr Bezos ended the day in the same number two spot he started in.

At the same time profits for the group slumped 77 per cent as it spent more on expanding services such as its Amazon Fresh grocery delivery service, its TV on-demand Amazon Channels subscriptions and its two-hour delivery Prime Now service around the world.

At the same time Amazon is rapidly expanding its operations in the UK, which include the vast 700,000 sq ft delivery warehouse at Rugeley in Staffordshire.

Staff numbers have risen by 500 to 2,000 at Rugeley this year and nearly half of the 100 new operations apprentices currently being recruited by Amazon will work at the Staffordshire site.

Across the UK it is opening a 60,000 sq ft development site in Cambridge, while another site will be dedicated to developing its Prime Air drone delivery system.

New warehouses are being opened in Tilbury and Warrington this year, both equipped with robot pickers and automated shelving, while 450 new jobs are being created at its London headquarters. By the end of this year Amazon will employ 24,000 full-time workers – nearly 9,000 more than at the end of last year.

While the tech giant's net income fell to £150 million, down from £656 million a year ago, chief executive Jeff Bezons has praised the company's growing hardware portfolio – which includes the Amazon Echo smart speaker.

"Our teams remain heads-down and focused on customers," Mr Bezos said.

"In the last few months, we launched Echo Show - our newest Echo device with a video screen - introduced calling and messaging via Alexa on all Echo devices, launched four new Fire tablets, and held our third annual Prime Day - signing up more Prime members than ever before.

"It's energising to invent on behalf of customers, and we continue to see many high-quality opportunities to invest."

Amazon has been rapidly expanding its range of services beyond its core online retail business, including with an award winning film and TV studio and video streaming service.

The company's gadgets have also performed well with consumers in the last year, most notably its Echo and Echo Dot smart speakers - powered by virtual assistant Alexa - which has been at the forefront of the artificial intelligence revolution.