Facebook has reported a 20.4% fall in first quarter profit due to a surge in R&D, sales and marketing expenses.
The world’s largest social network generated revenue of $3.4 billion in the three months to 31 March, up considerably from $2.5 billion a year earlier. Monthly active users (MAUs) increased to 1.4 billion from 1.3 billion, and mobile MAUs grew 24% to 1.2 billion.
Daily active users (DAUs) came in at 936 million, while mobile DAUs reached 798 million, up 31% and 16.7% respectively compared to Q1 2014.
"This was a strong start to the year," said Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, in a statement on Wednesday. "We continue to focus on serving our community and connecting the world."
However, Facebook’s earnings were impacted by expenses, which jumped 83% to $2.6 billion. The figure was driven primarily by research and development costs, which increased to $1.1 bi llion from $455 million a year earlier, and marketing and sales costs, which grew to $620 million from $323 million.
As a result, operating income fell to $933 million from $1.1 billion, and net profit declined to $512 million from $642 million.
