Advertising surge lifts Facebook profits

FACEBOOK has posted annual profits of almost $3 billion (£2bn) after a surge in advertising in the final three months of 2014.

The social networking giant said fourth-quarter advertising revenues grew 53 per cent. Picture: Getty

The social networking giant said fourth-quarter advertising revenues grew 53 per cent to $3.6bn, as more people use its platform to stay in touch with friends and family.

Over the year, Facebook’s monthly active users rose 13 per cent to 1.4 billion, while the number who used the site every day lifted 18 per cent to 890 million. Its annual profit almost doubled to $2.9bn.

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Chief executive Mark Zuckerberg, who founded the firm in 2004, said: “This has been a good quarter for Facebook and a great end to the year. Our community continued to grow in size and engagement, and we’re very pleased with the growth of our business.”

The market expects 2015 will be a year of heavy investment for Facebook, as it steps up efforts to expand a range of products that include messaging service WhatsApp, photo-sharing service Instagram and virtual reality headset maker Oculus Rift.