Twitter gains a surprising number of users
Twitter is benefiting from higher user numbers and growing advertising revenues. Revenue in the second quarter increased by 18 percent to 841 million dollars, as the U.S. short message service announced on Friday. Profits shot up from $100 million to $1.1 billion thanks to a billion-dollar tax effect.
Twitter's growth figures exceeded analysts' expectations, and the share price rose by more than six percent in pre-market trading.
Twitter increased the number of daily users by 14 percent to 139 million within a year. The company now only counts users to whom it can show ads via its website or apps. Users who follow tweets via other sites such as Tweetdeck are not included in this figure.
In the current third quarter, growth will slow down, Twitter explained. The group expects sales of 815 to 875 million dollars - less than many analysts had previously expected. In order to further increase user numbers, Twitter is relying on live broadcasts of sporting events, for example. That's contributing to rising costs, as are growing expenses in the fight against hate comments. In the second quarter, costs rose by 21 percent to $766 million. (sda)
