Impending Fine Sees Facebook Profit Fall By Half

Facebook reported its quarterly profit sank 51 percent from a year earlier due to setting aside US$3 billion for an anticipated fine from US regulators.

The company logged a profit of $2.4 billion on revenue that climbed 26 percent to $15.1 billion in the first three months of this year.

The number of monthly active users at the end of March was 2.38 billion, up 8 percent from a year ago.

Facebook estimated that it will be hit with a fine of from $3 billion to $5 billion by the US Federal Trade Commission for "user data practices" and factored that into its earnings report.

"The matter remains unresolved, and there can be no assurance as to the timing or the terms of any final outcome," the California-based company said in the release.

Facebook quarterly profit would have topped Wall Street forecasts if not for the money put aside for the expected fine.

"We had a good quarter and our business and community continue to grow," said Facebook chief executive and co-founder Mark Zuckerberg.

"We are focused on building out our privacy-focused vision for the future of social networking, and working collaboratively to address important issues around the internet."

Analyst Debra Aho Williamson of the research firm eMarketer said the latest results showed "solid performance in revenue and user growth".

Williamson said advertisers are staying with Facebook despite controversies that have beleaguered the social networking giant. (AFP)