With mobile advertising now representing some 59pc of its US$2.5bn revenues, social network Facebook is on a mobile roll. The company also revealed CFO David Ebersman is stepping down and will be replaced by finance and planning chief David Wehner.
The US$2.5bn first-quarter revenue is an increase of 72pc compared with US$1.46bn in the first quarter of 2013.
“Facebook’s business is strong and growing, and this quarter was a great start to 2014,” said Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook co-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.”
The social network reported a first-quarter profit of US$642m, up from US$219m a year ago.
Facebook reported that daily active users (DAUs) were 802m on average for March 2014, an increase of 21pc year-over-year. Mobile DAUs were 609m on average for March 2014, an increase of 43pc year-over-year.
Revenue from advertising
Facebook reported revenue from advertising totalled US$2.27bn, an 82pc increase from the same quarter last year.
Mobile advertising revenue represented about 59pc of advertising revenue for the first quarter of 2014, up from about 30pc of advertising revenue in the first quarter of 2013. Payments and other fees revenue amounted to US$237m for the first quarter of 2014.
Commenting on his decision to step down as CFO Ebersman said, “This has been a tough decision because Facebook is such a great company and has such a bright future ahead, but I’ve decided to move back into healthcare, where I spent my career before Facebook.
“It’s been a privilege working at Facebook and being part of such a great team. We have an incredibly talented finance organisation, and I have complete confidence in Dave Wehner and his ability to lead the team going forward.”
