Twitter user numbers grows to 271m

Twitter's share price closed 1.74 per cent up at 38.59 on July 29th despite the company reporting a second-quarter loss.

The social networking service reported a $145 million (£86 million) loss between March and June but was boosted with a rise in its monthly users. The popularity of the site grew during the second period of 2014 with Twitter registering 271 million monthly users, a 24 per cent increase on a year ago.

Its latest announcement helped to reassure investors that the service was growing fast enough and prompted a 35 per cent increase in shares thanks to after-hours trading. The company's continued losses are a cause for concern however, as the $145 million was three times higher than the loss Twitter made during the same period a year ago.

One of the driving forces behind Twitter's increase in users between March and June was the Fifa World Cup. The social media site saw record figures during a number of games including the semi-final between Brazil and Germany and the final between Germany and Argentina. It made the 2014 World Cup set a precedent for all future tournaments.

Germany's 7-1 demolition of the hosts made history in many ways, none more so than on Twitter where 35.6 million tweets were sent throughout the 90 minutes. The figure managed to surpass the Super Bowl, the MTV VMAs and a number of other high profile sporting and non-sporting events.

Dick Costolo, chief executive officer of Twitter, said: "Our strong financial and operating results for the second quarter show the continued momentum of our business.

"We remain focused on driving increased user growth and engagement, and by developing new product experiences, like the one we built around the World Cup, we believe we can extend Twitter's appeal to an even broader audience."

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