Facebook profit drops ahead of its IPO

Facebook said its net income fell to $205 million in the quarter ended March 31, down 12 per cent, from $233 million a year earlier. The social networking company is expected to come up with its initial public offering in May.

Facebook's revenue during the quarter however surged 45 per cent to $1.06 billion. In a regulatory filing, Facebook said that it had 901 million monthly active users as of March 31, up from 845 million as of the end of 2011. And the number of people using its mobile applications each month grew to 488 million as of the end of the quarter from 432 million as of the end of last year.