Twitter Inc had a net loss of $ 511 million in its first quarterly report since its initial public stock offering, the San Francisco-based company said on Wednesday, falling further in the red than forecast.
Total losses for 2013 were $ 645 million compared to $ 79 million in 2012, according to the fourth-quarter report. The social-media company went public on November 6, selling shares to raise at least $ 1.8 billion to fuel continued expansion.
The pace of user growth slowed, with 241 million monthly users, up 30 per cent from 185 million monthly users a year earlier. The rate of growth was 39 per cent in the previous period.
Revenue more than doubled to $ 243 million in the fourth quarter, up 116 per cent from the year-ago period.
Full-year revenue was $ 665 million, up 110 per cent year-on-year, according to the earnings report.
“Twitter finished a great year with our strongest financial quarter to date,” chief executive Dick Costolo said. “We are the only platform that is public, real-time, conversational and widely distributed, and I’m excited by the number of initiatives we have underway to further build upon the Twitter experience.” The announcement sent shares down as much as 15 per cent in after-hours trading.