Today, the bellwether internet retailer Amazon.com Inc is expected to post a net profit for the first time ever when it reports its fourth-quarter financial results. This would be a serious bonus for the entire internet sector as it will be the first time a publicly traded pure-play dot-com retailer has declared a profit.

However, the company will only report a profit using dubious metrics that exclude amortization of acquisition-related expenses, interest payments, and other items, many of which would be judged as expenses related to core operations.

But even if it reaches this measure of profits, it still does not have a guaranteed future. The Seattle, Washington-based company still pays about $120m a year in interest alone, on debt totalling $2.1bn. The company reported a loss of $1.4bn on sales of $2.7bn in 2000.

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