Facebook's Profit Falls 12% Ahead of Expected Offering With its initial public offering drawing closer, Facebook disclosed on Monday that its profit in the first quarter fell 12 percent, to $205 million, as its expenses continued to climb. Still, its revenue exceeded $1 billion for the second consecutive quarter, something the company is likely to emphasize when it begins its presentations to potential investors in the coming weeks. The latest financial figures, disclosed in an amended prospectus filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, may raise questions about whether Facebook will be able to command a high stock value when it goes public, a number built largely on the promise of continued growth. Analysts and company executives have estimated its potential value at more than $100 billion. Facebook has not disclosed the date of its public offering, but it is widely expected to become publicly traded in mid-May. For the most part, Facebook has succeeded in continuing to increase its social network's user base rapidly. The number of its daily active users, an important measure of engagement, jumped 41 percent in the first quarter, to 526 million, the company said in its filing. It said it has 901 million monthly active users, 30 percent more than a year ago. The number of people using Facebook from mobile devices also rose, to 488 million. Such users are considered extremely valuable because more data can be gleaned about them. That growth helped contribute to $1.06 billion in revenue in the first quarter, 45 percent higher than same time last year. Facebook's user growth has not necessarily translated to significantly higher profits or faster revenue growth. Its average revenue for each user in the quarter rose only 6 percent from the same time last year, to $1.21, after rising by double digits in previous years. Among the biggest drags on Facebook's profitability has been how much the company is paying for its growth. Its marketing costs more than doubled, to $159 million in the quarter, while its research and development nearly tripled, to $153 million. Facebook has been under pressure to add new advertising services to keep up with competitors. The company said in its filing that some of the slowdown in revenue growth was because ad revenue was strong toward the end of a calendar year and then trailed off in the next quarter. Facebook said in the filing: "We believe that this seasonality in advertising spending affects our quarterly results, which generally reflect strong growth in advertising revenue between the third and fourth quarters and slower growth, and for certain years a decline, in advertising spending between the fourth and subsequent first quarters." And the biggest source of growth for the company's average revenue for each user was in markets like Asia, where that number was smaller to begin with. Facebook also confirmed details of its $1 billion purchase of the photo-sharing company Instagram. It paid 23 million shares and $300 million in cash. In a tacit acknowledgment that Facebook may soon face antitrust scrutiny, the company said that it would owe Instagram a $200 million breakup fee if the deal were blocked by government regulators.