Facebook's revenue up, but expenses rose faster

San Francisco

WHEN Mark Zuckerberg warned investors three months ago that Facebook's expenses were going to rise sharply, he really meant it.

The company reported on Wednesday that revenue increased 49 per cent in the fourth quarter compared to the previous year, exceeding Wall Street's expectations. But expenses rose even faster, up 87 per cent from the same quarter a year ago, driven in part by a huge increase in stock payouts to employees.