Google shares climbed 5 per cent in after-hours trading on Thursday as the web software giant reported revenue and profits that beat analysts’ estimates.

The company said that sales increased 12 per cent in the quarter to $14.9 billion, compared to a year earlier, while income was $2.97 billion, up from 2.18 in the third quarter of 2012.

The company reported a 26 per cent increase in the number of paid clicks on ads, but the cost per click declined by 8 per cent. This reflected the company’s success in following users’ shift to mobile devices, where ads are generally cheaper than on desktop devices.

The biggest black spot in the earnings report was in the performance of the company’s Motorola division, which saw losses reach $248 million, compared to $192 million a year earlier. Revenue fell to $1.18 billion from $1.78 billion, despite the introduction of the Moto X, the company’s new high-end smartphone.

Chief executive Larry Page said that Google had already made a “huge transformation” at Motorola and was very upbeat over the company’s position in mobile devices. He said that there were over 1 billion activated Android devices in use around the globe and that 1.5 million new devices were activated each day.

“I think we’re very well positioned in mobile,” Page said in a conference call. “And we have obviously search and things that work across many different things.” Over 40 per cent of videos on You Tube were now viewed on mobile devices, he said.

The company also revealed that it had increased the share of international revenues to $7.67 billion, representing 56 per cent of total revenue, compared to 53 per cent a year ago.

“Google had another strong quarter with $14.9 billion in revenue and great product progress,” said Page. “We are closing in on our goal of a beautiful, simple, and intuitive experience regardless of your device.” Google shares have gained 24 per cent so far this year and the positive earnings report sent the shares to a new record high of $948 a share.

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