With 2.2bn users, Facebook's profits surge in Q1

Embroiled in a massive data breach controversy, Facebook has beaten Wall Street's estimates by raking in $11.97 billion in revenue for the first quarter of 2018.

The social media giant reported $4.98 billion in profit -- up from $4.26 billion in the last quarter.

"Despite facing important challenges, our community continues to grow. More than 2.2 billion people now use Facebook every month and more than 1.4 billion people use it daily," Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg posted late Wednesday.

Facebook stock gained more than 4 per cent in after-hours trading and was up 7 per cent following its conference call.

Facebook added 70 million monthly active users (MAUs) to reach 2.196 billion globally -- a 3.14 per cent growth rate.

Both daily active users (DAUs) and monthly active users (MAUs) saw an increase of 13 per cent year-over-year (y-o-y).

"We are taking a broader view of our responsibility and investing to make sure our services are used for good. But we also need to keep building new tools to help people connect, strengthen our communities, and bring the world closer together," Zuckerberg said, who had recently testified before the US Congress over Cambridge Analytica data scandal.

British political consultancy firm Cambridge Analytica was found misusing users' data collected by a Facebook quiz app which used the "Login with Facebook" feature. In total, 87 million users were affected.

Facebook's mobile advertising revenue represented approximately 91 per cent of advertising revenue for the first quarter of 2018, up from approximately 85 per cent of advertising revenue in the first quarter of 2017.

Facebook currently has 27,742 employees -- an increase of 48 per cent y-o-y.

"Our focus in 2018 is to keep people safe and to keep building the experiences people expect from us. We are taking a broader view of our responsibility -- to not only give people powerful tools but to make sure these tools are used for good.

"At the same time, we also need to keep building new services that bring people together in meaningful new ways. That's what makes Facebook so important to so many people, and that's our responsibility too," said Zuckerberg.

According to Zuckerberg, Facebook's initiative Internet.org has now helped almost 100 million people connect to the internet, up from 40 million in November 2016.

--IANS

na/nks/ksk