Facebook continued its upward rise in the first quarter, with revenues advancing 26 percent from the year before to USD 15.077 billion. Advertising revenue made up the bulk of the total, and was also up 26 percent, to USD 14.912 billion. Mobile advertising revenue made up 93 percent of that figure, from 91 percent the year earlier.
Meanwhile, the net profit was hit by a USD 3.0 billion provision for legal expenses in the quarter, as part of Facebook’s ongoing wrangle with the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) about its platform and user data practices. The company estimates the cost to resolve the FTC's investigation at USD 3-5 billion and said there can be no assurance given as to the timing or terms of the final outcome.
As a result, the quarterly net profit halved to USD 2.429 billion from 4.988 billion, with diluted earnings per share going to USD 0.85 from 1.69. Profit from operations slid 39 percent to USD 3.317 billion, with the operating margin halving to 22 percent from 46 percent. Without the legal expense, Facebook said the operating margin would have gone 20 percentage points higher and the diluted EPS up by USD 1.04.
The number of daily active users lifted 8 percent from the year before to 1.56 billion, a bit higher than the 1.52 billion recorded in the previous quarter. Monthly active users also increased by 8 percent year-on-year, to 2.38 billion. The figure compares to 2.32 billion in the fourth quarter. The number of people using the company’s “Family” of services, namely Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp or Messenger on a daily basis was stable on a sequential basis at 2.1 billion. On a monthly basis, the figure was also unchanged, at 2.7 billion.
In general, total costs and expenses for the company rose to USD 11.760 billion from 6.517 billion, with capex at USD 3.96 billion and cash and cash equivalents at USD 45.24 billion. Headcount continued to go up, climbing 36 percent year-on-year to 37,773.
