Bebo revenue nosedived in year after sale to AOL

The publication of the company's results comes after it was reported two weeks ago that AOL had decided to either sell off or shut down the social network after deciding it was not in a position to give Bebo the extra investment it needed to compete.

In the 12 months before AOL acquired the business in May 2008, Bebo UK made pre-tax profits of £798,560 on revenue of £8.78m.

Despite the subsequent £2m-plus drop in revenue over the next 12 months, pre-tax profits fell just £257,290 to £541,268 due to matching cost reductions.

After a tax charge of £1.67m the company made a loss of £1.12m.

A Bebo spokeswoman declined to comment on the cause of the revenue decline or the reason why the tax charge was so large.

This article was first published on mediaweek.co.uk