Surprise decline in number of Snapchat users

SNAP defied investor expectations with a 44pc rise in revenues to $262m (£202m) in the three months to the end of June, despite reporting its first ever fall in quarterly users after the redesign of its Snapchat messaging app earlier this year.

Shares in the company, which floated at $17 a piece on the New York Stock Exchange in 2017, jumped 5pc in after-hours trade to $13.77 as it revealed that its average revenue per user rose 34pc year on year.

The Saudi investor Prince Alwaleed bin Talal also revealed last night that he had taken a stake in the messaging app, buying 2.3pc, or $250m worth of stock, at the end of May.

The number of daily users fell 2pc in the second quarter to 188m, from 191m in the first quarter of the year.

Investors had been braced for dismal results. Last week, they bet that the company would underperform. Short sellers, who borrow and then sell stocks they think will fall in value, increased their positions against Snap by 12pc in the second quarter of this year.