Skype grows FY revenues 20%, reaches 663 mln users

Skype has updated its IPO prospectus with its results for 2010. The SEC filing shows the VoIP provider finished 2010 with 663 million registered users, up from 474 million a year earlier. The average number of users connected each month was 145 million in the fourth quarter of 2010, versus 105 million a year earlier, while paying customers rose over the same period to an average 8.8 million per month, from 7.3 million. Skype billed a total 12.8 billion minutes last year, up from 10.7 billion in 2009, while free Skype-to-Skype minutes rose to 194.3 billion from 113.0 billion. Average revenue per paying customer was USD 97 in 2010, down from USD 98 in 2009 and USD 102 in 2008. Total revenues for the company reached USD 859.8 million in 2010, up from USD 718.9 million in 2009, and the company generated an operating profit of USD 20.6 million versus a loss of USD 352.2 million in the previous year. The net loss narrowed to USD 6.9 million in 2010, from USD 417.5 million in 2009. In the most recent quarter, Skype generated a net profit of USD 7.6 million on revenues of USD 237 million. Skype finished the year with cash of USD 142.5 million. Its acquisition of Qik in January cost USD 121 million, plus an optional payment of USD 29 million, which was financed from cash and credit agreements.