Mobile ads help boost Facebook revenue 63 per cent

53 per cent of advertising revenue comes from mobile compared with nothing two years ago

Facebook revenue jumped 63 per cent to $2.6 billion (£1.6bn) in the final three months of last year, the social media giant has reported in its financial results for the fourth quarter of 2013.

The figure marks a significant rise on the already impressive $1.6bn (£1bn) that was reported in the same period during 2012, with advertising revenues the reason behind much of the increase over 12 months previously.

Revenue from advertising is reported at $2.3bn (£1.4bn), a 76 per cent increase on the same quarter the previous year. Of those advertising revenues, 53 per cent stem directly from Facebook's push into mobile advertising on smartphone and tablet apps.

The income stream from mobile advertising has therefore more than doubled, with just 23 per cent of revenues coming in that way in 2012. Two years ago, Facebook had no income from mobile.

Facebook's net income for the year is reported at $1.5bn (£900m), with daily active users totalling an average of 757 million during December, a 22 per cent increase year-on-year.

Of those users, a significant chunk came from mobile devices, with an average of 556 million accessing Facebook via smartphone or tablet, an increase of 49 per cent compared with December 2012.

"It was a great end to the year for Facebook," said Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook founder and CEO. "We're looking forward to our next decade and to helping connect the rest of the world."

"2013 was the year we turned our business into a mobile business," he added in an earnings call.

Facebook initially struggled to monetise its mobile platform which led to share prices plummeting after the firm first floated on the stock market. However, on the news of the latest earnings report, Facebook shares had risen by over ten per cent.

The social media network , initially set up by Zuckerberg while at university, turns ten years old next Tuesday.