Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg has praised the social media giant’s positive financial performance for the first quarter of 2018.
Facebook’s revenue for the quarter was up 49 per cent to US$11.97 billion compared to the corresponding period in 2017, on the back of a massive 50 per cent rise in advertising revenue to US$11.8 billion.
Mobile represented approximately 91 per cent of Facebook’s overall revenue for the first quarter of 2018 – up from approximately 85 per cent in the first quarter of 2017.
The company’s net income grew 63 per cent to $US4.99 million, while diluted earnings per share was at $1.69 – also up 63 per cent on the prior corresponding period.
The number of daily active users for Facebook was 1.45 billion on average for March 2018 – and increase of 13 per cent year on year. The number of monthly active users was also up 13 per cent to 2.20 billion as of 31 March 2018.
Facebook’s staff headcount was 27,742 as of 31 March – a year-on-year increase of 48 per cent.
Commenting on the results, Zuckerberg said that despite facing important challenges, Facebook is off to a “strong start” in 2018.
“We are taking a broader view of our responsibility and investing to make sure our services are used for good,” he said.
“But we also need to keep building new tools to help people connect, strengthen our communities and bring the world closer together.”
