Social network giant Facebook reported soaring profits during the first quarter of 2014, driven by a major surge in advertising revenue.
The technology firm saw profits leap to $642 million, a sharp rise of 193 per cent on the $219 million for the same period last year.
Revenue was also up by 72 per cent to $2.5 billion, from $1.46 billion in 2013, the company's quarterly figures show.
There was a marked surge in advertising revenue, up 82 per cent on the first quarter of last year to $2.27 billion. Key to this was mobile advertising, which was responsible for 59 per cent of advertising revenue for the first quarter of 2014, almost doubling the 30 per cent of 12 months ago.
Facebook founder and chief executive Mark Zuckerberg said: "Facebook's business is strong and growing, and this quarter was a great start to 2014.
"We've made some long-term bets on the future while staying focused on executing and improving our core products and business. We're in great position to continue making progress towards our mission."
The company also announced the departure of chief finance officer David Ebersman, who will step down later this year.
The social networking site, which was founded in 2004, increased its global reach during the first quarter of 2014.
Almost 1.3 billion people used the website in March, up 15 per cent year-on-year - more than a billion using smart phones and tablets - and around 800 million people logged on to the website each day.
The surge in profits comes despite recent acquisitions, such as that of instant messaging service WhatsApp.
The mobile device market is a key area for Facebook, and the purchase of WhatsApp highlighted its determination to stay relevant in that sector.
It also recently bought virtual reality headset maker Oculus VR, developer of the Oculus Rift headset that many regard as the future of gaming.
Post a Comment