Facebook earnings surge on mobile advertising

     Social networking giant Facebook has reported profits of $642m (£383m) during the first quarter of 2014, beating analyst expectations. The firm said that a surge in mobile advertising helped push revenues 72% higher, to $2.5bn in the January-to-March period. Mobile now makes up 59% of advertising revenue, from 30% a year ago.
     Facebook also announced chief finance officer David Ebersman will be stepping down after five years at the company. Mr Ebersman, who will remain with the company until September, said he plans to return to the healthcare industry. He will be replaced by David Wehner, Facebook's vice president for corporate finance and business planning, and the former chief financial officer at games company Zynga.
     "Facebook's business is strong and growing, and this quarter was a great start to 2014," said founder and chief executive Mark Zuckerberg in a statement.