Amazon reported its first quarterly net loss since 2003 due to operating margins depressed by heavy investment in its operations and a large impairment charge on its coupon website LivingSocial. The world's largest online retailer by sales included a $169m writedown on LivingSocial, which it acquired for $175m in 2010, contributing to a $274m net loss in the third quarter to the end of September. In the same quarter in 2011 it generated net income of $63m. Amazon, which also provides infrastructure services to a growing number of businesses, reported quarterly revenue of $13.8bn, up 27 per cent from last year. For the fourth quarter, including the critical ­holiday shopping period, Amazon forecast earnings ranging from a loss of $490m to a profit of $310m, compared with $260m the year before. Although online retailers have fared better in a slower global economy than many of their bricks-and-mortar rivals, both eBay and Google have indicated a weak economic situation in Europe and the US might be having an affect on fast-growing internet ­companies. Amazon shares fell more than 5 per cent in after-hours trading following its results announcement before recovering to be down about 1.5 per cent. Amazon's operating margin has been the subject of market attention as the company's expenses have grown at a faster rate than its revenues as investments are made in technology, ­distribution capacity and content. "Our approach is to work hard to charge less," said Jeff Bezos, Amazon's chief executive in a statement. Sell devices near break-even and you can pack a lot of sophisticated hardware into a very low price point. Amazon's operating margin has stood at 2 per cent or less for more than a year. "The company is not likely to achieve material leverage off its revenue growth as costs associated with investments into its digital platforms build," Colin Gillis, technology analyst at BGC Partners, wrote ahead of the earnings. The nature of Amazon's core business is that of a discount retailer which limits margin upside. Other analysts say although margins might be depressed in the short term, Amazon could deliver higher margins in the coming years as it continues to invest in new distribution centres, expands its cloud computing service offerings and adds new devices such as the Kindle Fire HD to its mix. The company also hopes to benefit from higher volume of sales from third-party sellers that pay fees to use its website and warehouses. Amazon recorded a loss of 60 cent a share in the lastest quarter, compared to analysts" forecasts of an 8 cents a share loss. Amazon reported a third-quarter operating loss of $28m, compared with operating income of $79m in the same quarter last year.