SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – EBay Inc. said Wednesday its fourth-quarter profit more than tripled, largely because of the sale of its Skype telecommunications business.

The company also saw growth in its PayPal payments business and a holiday shopping season that was healthier than the year before.

EBay, which runs online auctions and e-commerce sites, earned $1.36 billion, or $1.02 per share, in the quarter that ended in December. That compares with $367 million, or 29 cents per share, in the year-ago quarter.

When excluding one-time items, eBay earned 44 cents per share – 4 cents more than analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected.

Revenue rose 16 percent to $2.37 billion, beating analyst estimates.

EBay sold Skype in November and reported a gain of $1.4 billion from Skype in the quarter.

In after-hours trading following the release of results, eBay gained 77 cents, or 3.5 percent, to $23 after closing earlier down $1.03, or 4.4 percent, at $22.23.

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AP-WS-01-20-10 1643EST