ANKARA
Social networking company Facebook has reported profits of US$642 million and a 72 percent increase in revenue during the first quarter of 2014.
In a statement released on Wednesday, Facebook reported revenue of $2.5 billion with a 72 percent increase compared with quarter one of last year.
"Facebook's business is strong and growing, and this quarter was a great start to 2014," said Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook founder and CEO. "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 a great position to continue making progress towards our mission."
Facebook's shares soared more than four percent in extended trading after the results came out.
The networking giant Facebook, which turns 10-years-old in January this year, has 1.28 billion users to date worldwide with more than a billion of those accessing the site through a mobile device, such as a smartphone or tablet.
Mobile advertising revenue represented approximately 59 percent of advertising revenue for the first quarter of 2014, up from approximately 30 percent of advertising revenue in the first quarter of 2013.
Facebook also announced that Chief Finance Officer (CFO) David Ebersman will be stepping down after five years at the company.
“Ebersman will be succeeded as CFO by David Wehner, currently Facebook's Vice President, Corporate Finance and Business Planning. Ebersman will remain with the company through September to ensure a seamless transition of his responsibilities,” the statement said.
Facebook had a 16 percent share of all mobile advertising dollars spent in the U.S. this year, up from 9 percent in 2013, according to eMarketer.
eMarketer estimated that digital ad spending will increase to $137.5 billion in 2014 from $120 billion in 2013.
Google is the biggest player in the world, with a 32.4 percent share of the $117.6 billion spent on digital advertising in 2013.
englishnews@aa.com.tr
