Twitter's 'extraordinary year' sees record revenues

Twitter has posted record revenues for the last quarter of 2020, capping off what its chief executive said was "an extraordinary year" for the platform.

The social messaging platform said revenue grew 28% to $1.29bn (£930m) compared to the last quarter of 2019.

In January, Twitter banned Donald Trump from the platform which analysts felt could have an impact this quarter.

"We're a platform that is obviously much larger than any one topic or any one account," boss Jack Dorsey said.

Twitter's fourth-quarter results beat analysts' expectations for earnings and revenue, but failed to meet them for user growth.

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On 8 January, Twitter decided to permanently suspend the account of former President Donald Trump after the riots in Washington DC.

The removal of the avid Twitter user has prompted fears that it could affect the platform's popularity for the current quarter.

In response, Twitter chief executive Jack Dorsey said users are able to follow more than 6,000 different topics, explaining that those topics drive growth.

He added that 80% of Twitter's audience is outside the US.

"We have a global service. We are also not just dependent upon just news and politics being what drives Twitter," Mr Dorsey said.

Twitter's total "monetisable" daily active users grew by 5 million from the third quarter to 192 million. While this was up 26% compared to a year ago, it fell below analysts' expectations of 193.5 million.

The company warned that its total costs and expenses would rise at least 25% this year as it plans to raise headcount by 20%. It ended 2020 with more than 5,500 employees.