Facebook profit story pushes shares to new high

Facebook shares on Wednesday soared to a new high on word that the social network's quarterly profit and user numbers jumped as it thrives in a world gone mobile. Net income leapt to $791 million during the three months ended June 30 in a 138 per cent increase from the $333 million made during the same period a year earlier, the world's biggest social network said. ‘We had a good second quarter,’ said Facebook co-founder and chief executive Mark Zuckerberg. ‘Our community has continued to grow, and we see a lot of opportunity ahead as we connect the rest of the world. Revenue in the quarter surged to $2.91 billion, with approximately 62 per cent of that money coming from ads served up on mobile devices such as smartphones or tablet computers. Ad revenues overall were up 67 per cent from a year ago to $2.68 billion. Cashing in on the trend of Facebook members increasingly using mobile devices to connect to the social network has been seen by analysts as vital to its success. The number of people who visited the online social network at least once a month climbed to 1.32 billion in a 14 per cent rise from the same quarter last year, according to Facebook. The number of active users on mobile devices rose to 1.07 billion, according to AFP.