Twitter reported a widened loss despite increasing revenue during the second quarter, with mobile continuing to play an increasingly prominent role.

The microblogging company reported revenue for the quarter ended 30 June of $312 million, up 124 per cent year-on-year and a healthy increase on the $250.5 million reported for the first quarter.

However, it reported a net loss of $145 million, up from $42 million for the equivalent period in 2013, and from $132 million for the prior quarter.

Speaking in the company’s earnings call, Mike Gupta, Twitter’s CFO, said the net loss during the period included $158 million of stock-based compensation expenses.

Mobile monthly active users reached 211 million during the period, a 29 per cent year-on-year increase. Mobile users represented 78 per cent of total monthly active users, which totalled 271 million, up 24 per cent.

In addition, mobile accounted for 81 per cent of total advertising revenue, which reached $277 million during the period, up 129 per cent.

During the period, Twitter launched mobile app promotion, enabling developers to drive installs and engagement via the platform. It also agreed to acquire TapCommerce, which provides mobile retargeting and re-engagement advertising.

Dick Costolo, Twitter CEO, said the “strong financial and operating results for the second quarter show the continued momentum of our business”.

Other revenue, including data licensing, reached $35 million, a 90 per cent increase.
International revenue was $102 million, up 168 per cent and accounting for 33 per cent of total revenue.

Timeline views reached 173 billion, a 15 per cent rise. Advertising revenue per thousand timeline views reached $1.60, a 100 per cent year-on-year increase.

Costolo added that the company remains focused on “driving increased user growth and engagement, and by developing new product experiences… we believe we can extend Twitter’s appeal to an even broader audience”.

Twitter’s outlook for the third quarter projects revenue of between $330 million and $340 million, with stock-based compensation expenses projected at between $180 million and $190 million, excluding potential equity awards in relation to future acquisitions.

The company raised its revenue forecast for the year as a whole to between $1.31 billion and $1.33 billion, from $1.2 billion to $1.25 billion predicted in its first quarter results.