X's UK revenues and profits experienced a significant decline in the year following Elon Musk's acquisition of the social media platform, according to the company's filings. The decrease was attributed to reduced advertising spending, driven by concerns regarding "brand safety and/or content moderation," as stated in the accounts submitted to Companies House this week. Twitter UK Ltd also narrowly avoided being removed from the register last month due to a delay in filing its accounts. The full accounts for 2023, the year of the rebranding to X after Musk's takeover, were eventually filed on Monday. The company stated that it is "continuing to take corrective measures to build brand safety tools, invest in platform safety and content moderation, and then educate advertisers about these initiatives." Overall revenue totaled £69.1 million, a 66.3% decrease compared to £205.3 million in 2022. Profits for 2023 fell to £1.2 million from £5.6 million the previous year. Pre-tax profits also saw a 74% reduction, amounting to £2.25 million. The company acknowledged this as a "significant decrease in performance." Musk's takeover led to substantial layoffs, with the billionaire stating in 2023 that the company's workforce had been reduced from approximately 8,000 to 1,500 employees. In the UK, the company's employee count decreased from 399 to 114, including a reduction of 173 positions in "research and development." Despite these challenges, earlier this year, the value of X rebounded to the $44 billion that Musk paid for it. Last month, his X.AI artificial intelligence firm acquired the business for $33 billion. Farhad Divecha, a digital advertising expert and CEO of AccuraCast and founder of Unyte.AI, expressed no surprise at the figures. "The indicators have been there all along," he said. "If anything, I think we’ve seen the worst and X might finally have the chance to recover advertiser revenues, but that’s only going to happen in UK and Europe if Musk and his crew pull their act together, provide support for advertisers and put in place some brand safety guardrails.” X has been approached for comment, as has Kin Fai Cheung, the director who signed off on the accounts. Cheung and Adeeb Sahar are listed as the company's directors, while Musk is recorded at Companies House as the person with "significant control." Musk established a new company in the UK at the end of last year, amidst speculation that he was planning a donation to Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party. Incorporated on December 12, the company, named X.AI London, is engaged in "business and domestic software development" and shares the same London offices as X.
