Online giant Amazon has posted a 24% sales surge in its third quarter, when it also made a net loss of $41m (£25.3m).

Amazon’s net sales rose 24% to $17.09bn (£10.54bn) in the period to September 30. The etailer reported a net loss of $41m (£25.3m), compared to a loss of $274m (£169m) in the comparable period last year.

During the quarter Amazon launched the latest versions of its Kindle Fire tablets and enabled shoppers to buy cheaply, or get free, Kindle editions of print books they have purchased from Amazon.

In the fourth quarter Amazon anticipates sales to increase by between 10% and 25% to between $23.5bn and $26.5bn (£14.5bn and £16.35bn).