Sales for internet giant Amazon have continued to soar in its first quarter, growing 45% to $7.13bn (£4.6bn).

International sales including its UK operation grew 45% on last year to $3.35bn (£2.28bn).

Total profits across the business increased 68% to $299m (£194m) for the period.

Amazon founder and chief executive Jeff Bezos said: “We remain heads-down focused on customers.”

He added: “Amazon Prime has just celebrated its fifth anniversary, adoption of Amazon Web Services continues to accelerate, Kindle remains our number one bestselling product, and earlier this week, Kindle selection reached 500,000 titles.”

In the UK during the first quarter Amazon’s stand alone shoes and accessories site Javari extended its delivery across Europe.

Its best seller was the New Moon DVD, part of the popular Twilight vampire series, which became its biggest selling pre-order of the year.   

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