Facebook finally back at IPO price

Facebook shares have hit $38, capping a remarkable comeback as the stock has finally recovered all of its losses since its troubled market flotation in May 2012.

A boom in mobile advertising fuelled a surge in the share price in the last week, after Facebook reported a 53 per cent jump in quarterly revenues to $1.81bn (£1.2bn). Mobile advertising represented about 41 per cent of ad revenues.

Facebook is also finding new ways to make money. The group signalled yesterday it plans to sell TV-style commercials on its site for as much as $2.5m a day. A study from research firm Nielsen has found Facebook attracts more 18 to 24-year-old people during prime-time viewing hours than any of four major US television networks. The world's biggest social networking website had a disastrous initial public offering (IPO) which saw shares more than halve in value to $18.