Twitter posts meagre profits of £16,500 in the UK

Twitter posts meagre profits of £16,500 in the UK
Slow going in the UK for Twitter

Twitter has posted its first set of accounts for the UK side of its business and it's fair to say the figures are hardly befitting of its global stature.

The social network's British subsidiary, which commenced operations with a small team in London's Silicon Roundabout in May 2011 made profits of just £16,500 in its first 7 months of trading.

The microblog set up shop in the capital in order to sell targeted advertisements through promoted tweets to its UK audience, as part of an international expansion drive.

Companies like Sky, Eurostar, BT and Electronic Arts were among the first to sign up for the promoted tweets scheme in the UK, which began in September of 2011.

Small scale

The Guardian reports that Twitter is estimated to have taken in $288m in advertising revenues last year, but those figures are set to an estimated $545m in 2013.

It is thought that 83 per cent of the 2013 revenues will still be earned in the United States market.

Although it did not speak on the record, Twitter told the Guardian that the UK earnings simply reflected the scale of its UK operation in those first few months.

Chris Smith

A technology journalist, writer and videographer of many magazines and websites including T3, Gadget Magazine and TechRadar.com. He specializes in applications for smartphones, tablets and handheld devices, with bylines also at The Guardian, WIRED, Trusted Reviews and Wareable. Chris is also the podcast host for The Liverpool Way. As well as tech and football, Chris is a pop-punk fan and enjoys the art of wrasslin'.