Google has reported a strong finish to 2012, beating analysts expectations and enjoying their first-ever US$50 billion year.

Announcing their fourth quarter results, the search giant reported revenue of $14.42 billion, representing a 36% increase from the previous year.

The revenue could have reached as much as $15.24 billion had Motorola been included in the financials.

“We ended 2012 with a strong quarter,” says Larry Page, CEO of Google.

“Revenues were up 36% year-on-year, and 8% quarter-on-quarter.

“And we hit $50 billion in revenues for the first time last year – not a bad achievement in just a decade and a half.

“In today’s multi-screen world we face tremendous opportunities as a technology company focused on user benefit. It’s an incredibly exciting time to be at Google.”

Financial summary

The company earned $3.57 billion in profits during the quarter, showing a rise from the $3.11 billion posted last year, with stock rising $27 (4%) in after-hours trading.

Google Revenues (advertising and other) were $12.91 billion, or 89% of consolidated revenues, during the quarter, representing a 22% increase over fourth quarter 2011 revenues of $10.58 billion.

The company’s own sites generated revenues of $8.64 billion, or 67% of total Google revenues, showing an 18% from the same period last year.

As of December 31, 2012, cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities stood at $48.1 billion for the company.

But despite the good news, Motorola Mobile continues to lose money for the company, with the division losing $152 million during the quarter.

Headcount

On a worldwide basis, Google employed 53,861 full-time employees (37,544 in Google and 11,113 in Motorola Mobile and 5,204 in Motorola Home) before the end of 2012.

The continued rise is in comparison to the 53,546 full-time employees the company employed at the end of September 2012.

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