Facebook revenues rocket spurred by mobile advertising

Facebook co-founder and chief executive Mark Zuckerberg (Getty Images)

Social media giant Facebook has reported a rapid rise in revenue as mobile advertising drove a strong performance in the first quarter.

The social networking giant beat analysts’ expectations to report profits of $642m (£383m) in the first three months of the year.

Mobile advertising helped raise revenues 72% higher, to $2.5bn in the January-to-March period. Mobile now makes up 59% of advertising revenue, from 30% a year ago, the firm said.

Facebook's newsfeed ads, which inject paid marketing messages straight into a user's stream of news and content, have driven Facebook's meteroic revenue growth and bolstered its stock price during the past year.

The ads are ideally suited for the smaller-sized screens of smartphones and other mobile devices.

Chief finance officer David Ebersman will be stepping down after five years at Facebook.

Shares of Facebook have more than doubled during the past 12 months but are off 13 per cent from a 52-week high of $72.59 in mid-March.