Facebook doubles fourth quarter profits to $1.56bn

Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg

Social media giant Facebook said that profits more than doubled in the fourth quarter of 2015.

Net profit for the three months to December rose to $1.56bn (£1.09bn), up from $701m.

The company also said that 80% of its advertising revenue in that period came from mobile advertising, up from 69% a year earlier.

Shares jumped 8.7% in after-hours trading in New York on the better than expected results.

Revenue for the full year jumped 44% to $17.9bn, with net profit rising about $800m to $3.7bn.

The results mean that Facebook has now beaten analysts' expectations for ten consecutive quarters.

Rob Sanderson, an analyst at MKM Partners, described the growth as phenomenal.

Ken Sena, an analyst at Evercore ISI, said the advertising growth was much better than expected.

"It signifies the importance of what they're providing to advertisers," he said.

Mobile growth

"They're providing a very efficient method of distribution for them, they're making big investments and evidenced by their quarterly performance it seems to be working."

The number of monthly active users rose 14% to 1.59 billion in the fourth quarter compared with the same period in 2014, with 1.44 billion accessing Facebook on mobile devices - a 21% increase.

Chief executive Mark Zuckerberg said that 2015 was a "great year for Facebook. Our community continued to grow and our business is thriving."

He returned to work on Monday after taking two months of paternity leave following the birth of his first child late last year.