Facebook profit triples

Facebook profit triples to $642m as mobile use rockets.

Facebook has released its Q1 financial results for 2014, with revenue climbing to $2.5bn, displaying a profit of $642m, nearly triple the $219m the firm made in the same quarter in 2013.

Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook founder and chief executive, 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.”

Facebook advertising

Advertising revenue grew by 82%. Facebook relies on this heavily for it's growth. Facebook has almost 1.28 billion users each month, with 63% visiting the social networking site daily.

Facebook Messenger and Instagram both reached 200 million monthly users this quarter and Facebook has acquired virtual reality firm Oculus VR and mobile messaging app WhatsApp to boost it's portfolio. Yesterday WhatsApp founder Jan Koum announced that the service had reached 500 million users.

The figures are more positive than the financial results posted by firms including IBM, which saw its profits slump to $2.4bn in Q1, falling 21% year-on-year. Google posted a profit in its first-quarter results, but its cost-per-click income fell, causing concern among investors.

Meanwhile Apple also posted strong results on the same day as Facebook, as it saw profits of over $10bn which were driven by strong iPhone sales.

Courtesy of v3.co.uk, written by Rosalie Marshall