Online retailer and book specialist Amazon has announced a $98 million (£49 million) fall in profits due to investment.
The company saw operating cash flow drop to $702 million (£356 million) compared with $733 million (£372 million) in 2005. Free cash flow also decreased by 8 per cent to $486 million (£247 million).
However the internet shopping site also saw an increase in sales of 34 per cent to $3.99 billion (£2.02 billion) and sales for electronics and other general merchandise grew by 55 per cent.
Net sales grew 30 per cent compared with the fourth quarter in 2005, while during the course of the year the company invested heavily and repurchased eight million shares.
"We had a record holiday season with accelerating revenue growth and significant sequential improvement in operating leverage," said Jeff Bezos, founder and chief executive officer of Amazon.
Sales in the coming year are predicted to be boosted by the final instalment of the Harry Potter series due to be released in July.
Amazon announced that in the first seven hours of pre-order availability for J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows the retailer has sold over 200 per cent more books than it did the entire first day of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.
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