Facebook posted an annual revenue uplift of 25 per cent in Q4 2019 as its advertising business continued to thrive, however the social media giant’s privacy issues contributed to a rise in expenses during the period.

Revenue of $21 billion was up from $16.9 billion in Q4 2018, the bulk coming from advertising. Net income rose 7 per cent to $7.3 billion.

Daily active users on Facebook increased 9 per cent to 1.7 billion. Across Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger, it booked an 11 per cent increase to 2.3 billion.

Despite the positive results, a rise in expenses stood out, as it continues to grapple with privacy concerns across its platforms. The company reported a 34 per cent rise in total costs and expenses to $12.2 billion for Q4, with the full year figure up 51 per cent to $46.7 billion.

On an earnings call, CEO Mark Zuckerberg (pictured) said 2020 was going to be “a big year for our greater focus on privacy”. He said the company was committed to building privacy controls as part of a $5 billion settlement with the US Federal Trade Commission, and had 1,000 engineers working on privacy-related projects.

“I want us to build a reputation for privacy that’s as strong as our reputation around building good, stable services,” he said.

Facebook also confirmed it agreed to pay $550 million to settle a lawsuit in Illinois over the use of photos for its facial recognition technology.