Twitter is not planning an IPO and has a “truckload of money”, according to CEO Dick Costolo, countering speculation that the firm will go public any time soon. Speaking to the Los Angeles Times, Costolo says that Twitter is “going to remain private as long as we want”, adding that it has no reason to file to float on the stock market. However, he refused to confirm whether the popular social service is profitable. Twitter has raised more than USD1bn to date, the latest reportedly totalling USD800m in a deal that valued the firm at USD8.4bn in April last year. Many analysts expected Facebook’s IPO in May to spark others to follow suit, though those forecasts have been tempered somewhat after the social network’s rocky start on the stock market.

“I like being private for all sorts of reasons. It allows us to think about the business and the way we want to grow it in the small boardroom as opposed to being beholden to a particular way of growing the business, such as quarter to quarter,” says Costolo.

Costolo also gives insight into the success of Twitter’s ad strategy, claiming that the platform will have “tens of thousands” of advertisers by the end of the year, highlighting mobile growth in particular. Much has been made of Twitter’s revenue-generating strategy in the past, but the firm now appears to be gaining traction with its promoted ad suite. In particular, the mobile version of the ad service seems to be growing at a rapid clip, with Twitter’s UK ad head, Bruce Daisley, telling StrategyEye in May: “We're seeing more engagement on the mobile platform than even on desktop”. Overall, Twitter’s ad revenues are expected to grow 83% year on year to total USD259.9m in 2012, building on the 233% year on year growth of 2011, according to eMarketer stats.