(Reuters) — Facebook stated on Tuesday the coronavirus outbreak was undercutting sales of the advertising that accounts for almost all of its income, even as extra customers spend time on the social community throughout virus-related lockdowns.

“We don’t monetize lots of the companies the place we’re seeing elevated engagement, and we’ve seen a weakening in our advertisements enterprise in international locations taking aggressive actions to cut back the unfold of COVID-19,” the corporate stated in an announcement.

Facebook shares fell about 1% after hours following an 8.7% rise in common commerce.

The corporate stated messaging throughout its platforms had elevated greater than 50% over the past month in lots of the worst affected international locations. In Italy particularly, customers have been spending 70% extra time in its apps.

Group calling with three or extra members elevated by over 1,000% in Italy within the final month.

Facebook declined a request for touch upon exactly which of its markets have been experiencing opposed enterprise influence or the magnitude of that influence.

The corporate’s assertion echoes related trade steerage the day earlier than from Twitter, which reported a lift in energetic customers however pulled its first-quarter income outlook and forecast an working loss because of the outbreak.

Many advertisers have pulled advertising budgets to rein in prices due to virus-related uncertainty. Some are additionally apparently hesitant to promote alongside coronavirus discussions for concern of associating their manufacturers with the delicate matter.

(Reporting by Katie Paul in San Francisco and Munsif Vengattil in Bengaluru; Modifying by Sriraj Kalluvila, David Gregorio and Tom Brown)