Facebook grows user base to 1.55b, profits up

[SAN FRANCISCO] Facebook said on Wednesday its profit in the third quarter jumped 11 per cent to US$891 million as advertising revenues soared.

The world's biggest social network also said the number of monthly active users hit 1.55 billion, up 14 per cent from a year earlier.

Revenues leapt 41 per cent from a year ago to US$4.5 billion. The vast majority was from advertising, and mobile accounted for 78 per cent of ad revenues in the quarter, compared with 66 per cent a year earlier.

"We had a good quarter and got a lot done," said Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook's founder and chief executive.

"We're focused on innovating and investing for the long term to serve our community and connect the entire world." The stronger-than-expected earnings report sparked a gain of 2.3 per cent in Facebook shares in after-hours trade.

Analysts say Facebook has become an online advertising juggernaut as it seeks to leverage its huge base to expand into other applications such as Instagram and WhatsApp, and delve into virtual reality projects through its acquisition of Oculus.

According to the research firm eMarketer, Facebook accounted for eight per cent of worldwide digital ad revenues in 2014 and is expected to reach 9.6 per cent by the end of this year.

Google is expected to remain the market leader with 30.4 per cent share this year, down from 32 per cent last year, eMarketer estimates.

In mobile, Facebook's share of digital ad revenues this year is expected to be around 17.4 per cent in a market worth some US$72 billion.

AFP