MADRID, 27 Oct. (EUROPA PRESS) -

Meta, the company that owns Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram, obtained a net profit of 4,395 million dollars (4,433 million euros) in the third quarter, which represents a drop of 52.2% compared to the result recorded by the multinational directed by Mark Zuckerberg in the same period of 2021.

Between July and September, Meta's revenues totaled 27,714 million dollars (27,956 million euros), 4.5% less than the previous year, while the company's expenses and costs increased by 19%, to 22,050 million dollars (22,242 million euros).

In the month of September, the number of daily active users (DAU) increased 3% annually to 1.98 billion, while the number of monthly active users (MAU) grew 2% to 2.96 billion.

Thus, in the first nine months of 2022, Meta recorded a net profit of 18,547 million dollars (18,709 million euros), 36.2% less than a year earlier.

The company's revenues totaled up to September 84,444 million dollars (85,181 million euros), 0.2% more, while costs and expenses increased by 23.6%, to 61,899 million dollars (62,439 million euros) .

Likewise, the multinational indicated that its augmented and virtual reality division, Reality Labs, in charge of developing the metaverse, reduced its revenues by 48.9% in the third quarter, to 285 million dollars (287 million euros), reaching in nine months a total of 1,433 million dollars (1,445 million euros), 2.6% more.

The division recorded operating losses of 3,672 million dollars (3,704 million euros) in the third quarter, 39.6% more, thus raising the 'red numbers' until September to 9,438 million dollars (9,520 million euros), 37% more.

"While we face near-term revenue challenges, the fundamentals are there to return to stronger revenue growth," Mark Zuckerberg acknowledged in presenting the company's accounts, adding that the company will shift its focus to 2023. in efficiency.

For his part, the financial director of Meta, David Wehner, anticipated that revenues in the fourth quarter will range between 30,000 and 32,500 million dollars (30,262 and 32,784 million euros).

Likewise, the company expects to record annual costs of between 85,000 and 87,000 million dollars (85,742 and 87,759 million euros), including an impact of some 900 million dollars (908 million euros) in additional charges in the fourth quarter due to the consolidation of offices.