Facebook’s parent company Meta reported a 21 per cent year-on-year drop in first-quarter net profit, underpinned by a decrease in the average price per advertisement.
The California-based company earned a net profit of more than $7.4 billion in the quarter that ended on March 31, more than $2bn less than the prior year period. It was 27.4 per cent or $2.8bn less compared to the quarter that ended on December 31.
The social media company’s revenue surged nearly 7 per cent annually to $27.9bn in the three months to March, missing analysts’ estimates of $28.2bn. It was nearly 17 per cent down on a quarterly basis.
Shares of Meta jumped more than 19 per cent to $208.94 a share in extended trading on Wednesday.
“We made progress this quarter across a number of key company priorities … we remain confident in the long-term opportunities and growth that our product road map will unlock,” Meta founder and chief executive Mark Zuckerberg said.
The number of Facebook’s daily active users, which declined for the first time in the company’s 18-year history in the December quarter, jumped 4 per cent yearly in the last quarter. It reached 1.96 billion, exceeding StreetAccount’s estimates of 1.95 billion.
Meanwhile, Facebook’s monthly active users rose 3 per cent on an annual basis to 2.94 billion as of March 31.
“More people use our services today than ever before and I am proud of how our products are serving people around the world,” Mr Zuckerberg said.
The company’s earnings per share dropped 18 per cent annually to $2.72, exceeding expectations of $2.56.
In the last quarter, advertisement impressions delivered across Meta’s family of apps increased by 15 per cent a year and the average price per advertisement dropped by 8 per cent annually.
Meta’s family of apps includes Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp and other services.
The company's advertising sales contributed more than 96 per cent to overall sales in the first quarter, growing by about 6.1 per cent on an annual basis to almost $27bn in the January-March period.
Revenue from other streams — including reality labs — rose 24.3 per cent on an annual basis to nearly $910 million.
The company’s reality labs include augmented and virtual reality-related consumer hardware, software and content.
Meta, which employs 77,805 people, expects its June quarter total sales to be in the range of $28bn to $30bn, which represents an annual growth of up to 3.4 per cent, below market expectations.
This future guidance reflects a continuation of the “trends impacting revenue growth in the first quarter, including softness in the back half of the first quarter that coincided with the war in Ukraine”, Meta’s chief financial officer David Wehner said.
“We continue to monitor developments regarding the viability of transatlantic data transfers and their potential impact on our European operations, and we are pleased with the progress on a political agreement,” Mr Wehner said.
In a February report, the company threatened to pull Facebook and Instagram from Europe if it is unable to keep transferring user data back to the US amid negotiations between regulators to replace a scrapped privacy pact.
EU regulators have for months been stuck in negotiations with the US to replace a transatlantic data transfer pact that thousands of companies relied on. It was struck down by the EU Court of Justice in 2020 over fears citizens’ data is not safe once shipped to the US.
The company expects 2022 total expenses to be in the range of $87bn to $92bn, lowered from its prior outlook of $90bn and $95bn.
“We expect 2022 expense growth to be driven primarily by the family of apps segment, followed by reality labs,” Mr Wehner said.
The platform's capital expenditures, including principal payments on finance leases, were $5.5bn for the first quarter, the company said.
They are expected to be in the range of $29bn to $34bn for the 2022 full financial year, compared to $19.2bn for the last fiscal, driven by the company’s investments in data centres, servers, network infrastructure and new offices.
"Something which was even more cheering for investors was that Facebook reduced its overall cost outlook for 2022 to between $87bn and $92bn, from $90bn to $95bn before. It anticipates its family of applications category to contribute the majority of that spending rise, followed by Reality Labs," said Naeem Aslam, chief market analyst at Avatrade.
The company repurchased $9.39bn of its common stock in the first quarter. As of March 31, it had $29.41bn available and authorised for the repurchases, Meta said.
Facebook’s cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities stood at $43.89bn at the end of the last quarter.
ENGLAND TEAM
England (15-1)
George Furbank; Jonny May, Manu Tuilagi, Owen Farrell (capt), Elliot Daly; George Ford, Ben Youngs; Tom Curry, Sam Underhill, Courtney Lawes; Charlie Ewels, Maro Itoje; Kyle Sinckler, Jamie George, Joe Marler
Replacements: Luke Cowan-Dickie, Ellis Genge, Will Stuart, George Kruis, Lewis Ludlam, Willi Heinz, Ollie Devoto, Jonathan Joseph
Results
3pm: Maiden Dh165,000 (Dirt) 1,400m, Winner: Lancienegaboulevard, Adrie de Vries (jockey), Fawzi Nass (trainer).
3.35pm: Maiden Dh165,000 (Turf) 1,600m, Winner: Al Mukhtar Star, Adrie de Vries, Fawzi Nass.
4.10pm: Handicap Dh165,000 (D) 2,000m, Winner: Gundogdu, Xavier Ziani, Salem bin Ghadayer.
4.45pm: Handicap Dh185,000 (T) 1,200m, Winner: Speedy Move, Sean Kirrane, Satish Seemar.
5.20pm: Handicap Dh185,000 (D) 1,600m, Winner: Moqarrar, Dane O’Neill, Erwan Charpy.
5.55pm: Handicap Dh175,000 (T) 1,800m, Winner: Dolman, Richard Mullen, Satish Seemar.
Dubai Bling season three
Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed
Rating: 1/5
Email sent to Uber team from chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi
From: Dara
To: Team@
Date: March 25, 2019 at 11:45pm PT
Subj: Accelerating in the Middle East
Five years ago, Uber launched in the Middle East. It was the start of an incredible journey, with millions of riders and drivers finding new ways to move and work in a dynamic region that’s become so important to Uber. Now Pakistan is one of our fastest-growing markets in the world, women are driving with Uber across Saudi Arabia, and we chose Cairo to launch our first Uber Bus product late last year.
Today we are taking the next step in this journey—well, it’s more like a leap, and a big one: in a few minutes, we’ll announce that we’ve agreed to acquire Careem. Importantly, we intend to operate Careem independently, under the leadership of co-founder and current CEO Mudassir Sheikha. I’ve gotten to know both co-founders, Mudassir and Magnus Olsson, and what they have built is truly extraordinary. They are first-class entrepreneurs who share our platform vision and, like us, have launched a wide range of products—from digital payments to food delivery—to serve consumers.
I expect many of you will ask how we arrived at this structure, meaning allowing Careem to maintain an independent brand and operate separately. After careful consideration, we decided that this framework has the advantage of letting us build new products and try new ideas across not one, but two, strong brands, with strong operators within each. Over time, by integrating parts of our networks, we can operate more efficiently, achieve even lower wait times, expand new products like high-capacity vehicles and payments, and quicken the already remarkable pace of innovation in the region.
This acquisition is subject to regulatory approval in various countries, which we don’t expect before Q1 2020. Until then, nothing changes. And since both companies will continue to largely operate separately after the acquisition, very little will change in either teams’ day-to-day operations post-close. Today’s news is a testament to the incredible business our team has worked so hard to build.
It’s a great day for the Middle East, for the region’s thriving tech sector, for Careem, and for Uber.
Uber on,
Dara
Tips for used car buyers
- Choose cars with GCC specifications
- Get a service history for cars less than five years old
- Don’t go cheap on the inspection
- Check for oil leaks
- Do a Google search on the standard problems for your car model
- Do your due diligence. Get a transfer of ownership done at an official RTA centre
- Check the vehicle’s condition. You don’t want to buy a car that’s a good deal but ends up costing you Dh10,000 in repairs every month
- Validate warranty and service contracts with the relevant agency and and make sure they are valid when ownership is transferred
- If you are planning to sell the car soon, buy one with a good resale value. The two most popular cars in the UAE are black or white in colour and other colours are harder to sell
Tarek Kabrit, chief executive of Seez, and Imad Hammad, chief executive and co-founder of CarSwitch.com
Company Profile
Name: Thndr
Started: 2019
Co-founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Sector: FinTech
Headquarters: Egypt
UAE base: Hub71, Abu Dhabi
Current number of staff: More than 150
Funds raised: $22 million
Tamkeen's offering
- Option 1: 70% in year 1, 50% in year 2, 30% in year 3
- Option 2: 50% across three years
- Option 3: 30% across five years
Developer: Ubisoft Montreal / Ubisoft Toronto
Publisher: Ubisoft
Platforms: Playstation 4, Xbox One, Windows
Release Date: April 10
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%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECreated%20by%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EJesse%20Armstrong%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Brian%20Cox%2C%20Jeremy%20Strong%2C%20Kieran%20Culkin%2C%20Sarah%20Snook%2C%20Nicholas%20Braun%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%204%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
More from Rashmee Roshan Lall
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Election pledges on migration
CDU: "Now is the time to control the German borders and enforce strict border rejections"
SPD: "Border closures and blanket rejections at internal borders contradict the spirit of a common area of freedom"
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-final, second leg result:
Ajax 2-3 Tottenham
Tottenham advance on away goals rule after tie ends 3-3 on aggregate
Final: June 1, Madrid
