Twitter cuts 9 percent of workforce as revenue growth slows

REUTERS - Twitter Inc reported a sharp slowdown in quarterly revenue growth on Thursday and said it would cut 9 percent of its global workforce.

The microblogging service said its user base ticked up 3 percent to 317 million average monthly active users in the third quarter from 313 million in the second quarter.

Analysts on average had expected 316.3 million monthly active users, according to market research firm FactSet StreetAccount.

Twitter has been struggling to sign up new users amid competition from nimbler rivals such as Instagram and Snapchat.

Revenue rose about 8 percent to $616 million, beating its own forecast of $590 million to $610 million.

The company, which last month hired bankers to field acquisition offers but major companies did not bid, reported a 20 percent rise in revenue in the previous quarter. Revenue rose nearly 58 percent last year.

(Reporting by Supantha Mukherjee and Anya George Tharakan in Bengaluru; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)