Facebook mobile advertising contributes to 38 per cent revenue boost

Overall revenue up 38 per cent compared with Q1 2012

Facebook has reported a boost in mobile advertising sales for Q1 2013, which saw overall revenue rise by 38 per cent year-on-year.

Q1 revenue amounted to $1.46bn (£940m), up from $1.06bn (£642m) in the same period in 2012. Advertising on mobile devices accounted for 30 per cent of the $1.25bn total advertising revenue for the first quarter, up from 23 per cent in the previous quarter.

Facebook's profits, however, haven't matched the growth in revenue, with the company reporting a net profit of $219m (£141m) for Q1, a slight increase on the $205m (£132m) figure for the same period last year. Increased spending on infrastructure and a rise in employee numbers are factors behind the smaller rise in profits, with Facebook looking firmly to the future.

"We've made a lot of progress in the first few months of the year," said Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook founder and CEO. "We have seen strong growth and engagement across our community and launched several exciting products."

Achievements Facebook touts in its quarterly report include a year-on-year 23 per cent increase in monthly active users, bringing total users to 1.1 billion, while the rise of smartphones and tablets has seen monthly active users on mobile increase by 54 per cent to 751 million.

The social media firm recently launched Facebook Home, a client for Android devices that replaces the original home screen.

Andrew Yates, CEO of social CRM provider Artesian Solutions, believes there's still much more to come from Facebook in the years ahead.

"Facebook's revenues are still dwarfed by dot-com giants, such as Amazon and Google, but it's only just started to scratch the surface of the revenue opportunities it holds," he said.

"Moving forwards, I anticipate that Facebook will continue to monetise its services by developing new offerings that provide dynamic content based on users' data.

"Whilst it will still take some time, the company will eventually trade above its IPO listing price and serve as a benchmark of progress for digital advertising, mobile and social," Yates added.

Facebook shares rose slightly to $27.50 (£17.66) following the quarterly report, but their value still remains significantly lower than the $38 (£24.40) figure reached when Facebook first floated on the stock market in May last year.