US online giant, Amazon has said that its profits have fallen by a disappointing 37 per cent during the quarter from January to March, 2013.

The company said that its net income fell to $82 million or 18 cents a share during the first quarter of the year compared to from $130 million or 28 cents a share recorded in the same quarter of the previous year. The total revenues of the company increased 22 per cent to $16.07 billion during the three month period from $13.18 billion recorded in January to March quarter of 2012.

The analysts were expecting a steeper fall for the company and this helped the company's shares improve on the stock exchange. However, the shares lost its gains and were trading 3 per cent lower in the afterhours.

According to an average of estimates by Thomson Reuters, the analysts expected the company to report earnings of 9 cents a share and revenue of $16.16 billion during the quarter from January to March, 2013. The company had earlier said that it expects sales to grow between sales to grow to between $15 billion and $16.6 billion.

Tom Szkutak, Amazon's chief financial officer quoted the company's motto in a conference call. "We believe putting customers first is the only way to create lasting value for shareholders," he said.