Oct. 20 (Bloomberg) -- EBay Inc., the world's largest Internet auctioneer, said third-quarter earnings surged 77 percent as the number of listings rose and the company expanded its PayPal e-mail payment service in Europe.

Profit climbed to $182.3 million, or 27 cents a share, from $103.3 million, or 16 cents, a year earlier. Revenue increased 52 percent to $805.9 million, the San Jose, California-based company said in a statement.

Listings grew by 48 percent to 348 million, helped by rising popularity of online auctions in 20 countries outside of the U.S. Use of PayPal climbed in Europe, where EBay opened five sites this year. Chief Executive Officer Meg Whitman, 48, expanded internationally with the acquisition of India's Baazee.com and introduced more programs, such as buyer financing, to boost transactions.

``Listings growth was good and I think that continues to be good going into the fourth quarter,'' said Mike Koskuba, who helps manage about $1.4 billion at New York-based Victory NewBridge, including 1.1 million shares of EBay.

The company said sales will rise to as much as $4.2 billion in 2005 with profit increasing to as much as $1.42 a share.

The revenue forecast compares with the $4.29 billion estimate of 22 analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial. EBay said 2005 profit excluding certain costs will be as much as $1.50 a share; the analyst estimate is for $1.61.

Profit last quarter, excluding certain costs, was 28 cents a share, or 1 cent more than the 27-cent estimate of analysts in the Thomson Financial survey.

Shares of EBay fell $1.09 to $91.36 at 4 p.m. in Nasdaq Stock Market composite trading. They've risen 41 percent this year.

Listings Growth

EBay, which gets revenue from listing fees and commissions on items sold through its sites, said its international business was its fastest-growing segment with sales rising 83 percent to $286.5 million.

PayPal's revenue rose 59 percent to $172 million. The unit had a fee increase in August. The number of payments sent through PayPal rose 45 percent.

In the U.S., EBay's biggest market, sales climbed 31 percent to $347.3 million as people used the site to sell items ranging from garden gnomes to dump trucks.

``EBay is a great business model with solid management,'' CIBC World Markets analyst Paul Keung wrote in a research report. He has an ``overweight'' rating on the stock and doesn't personally own shares. ``Top-line growth should be solid as it ramps its European business.''

The value of merchandise sold on EBay's sites rose 44 percent to $8.31 billion as the company ended the quarter with 125 million users, or 39.5 million more than it had a year earlier.

Seasonality

EBay, which has had increasing seasonal fluctuations in sales growth, boosted its fourth-quarter sales forecast by $29 million to about $915 million.

The company still expects fourth-quarter earnings per share of as much as much as 30 cents. Earnings excluding certain costs will be as much as 32 cents a share. Analysts have forecast 33 cents a share on this basis, which doesn't conform to generally accepted accounting principles.

To contact the reporter on this story: Greg Wiles in San Francisco grwiles@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: October 20, 2004 16:15 EDT