<p>Facebook has reported a spike in profits in the third quarter on the back of increased advertising sales.</p>

<p>The social media company reported net income was up 11% to $891m (&pound;579m) for the period between July and September compared with $806m last year.</p>

<p><a href="https://www.facebook.com/solodroid.net/">Facebook</a>&nbsp;also reported strong user growth in developing markets.</p>

<p>Investors have been waiting for signs that Facebook has made money from Instagram and WhatsApp, and for increased revenue from video.</p>

<p>Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg said the company was &quot;focused on innovating and investing for the long term&quot;.</p>

<p>Facebook has said in the past it planned to grow advertising revenue on Instagram and Whatsapp organically, but investors have been anxious to see specific plans.</p>

<p>The company, which is already the world&#39;s largest social media site, reported it gained 60 million new monthly active users in the third quarter, bringing its global users to 1.55 billion.</p>

<p>A growth in monthly active users means greater reach for advertisers using Facebook.</p>

<p>The company said Facebook and Instagram account for one in every five minutes Americans spend online.</p>

<p>Facebook has been focused on efforts to get more small businesses to advertise on its website.</p>

<p>Last week the company introduced a new slideshow feature that allows advertisers to produce lower cost videos for their products.</p>

<p>Facebook was also looking to show strong growth in its mobile users with mobile being the platform of choice in developing countries.</p>

<p>The number of mobile daily users was up 27% in September to 894 million.</p>

<h2>Beyond social media</h2>

<p>Investors had been watching to see the levels of spending as Facebook looks to grow and move beyond basic social media.</p>

<p>It bought the virtual reality company Oculus Rift for $2bn in 2014.</p>

<p>Oculus is virtual reality display that individuals wear on their heads. Many media analysts think it could change the gaming industry.</p>

<p>On a call with investors, Facebook said it expected to release Oculus technology at the end of 2016.</p>

<p>It will be connected to gear created by Samsung and sold for $99.</p>

<p>Source :&nbsp;<a href="http://www.bbc.com/">http://www.bbc.com/</a></p>
