Time not ripe for Twitter IPO says CEO

NEW YORK (AFP) - Twitter is not readying a public offering nor is it seeking to be sold to another group, chief executive Dick Costolo said on Wednesday.

An initial public offering (IPO) "is not something we're focused on right now," Mr Costolo said in an interview with the financial network CNBC.

"There will come a time when we need to start talking about what's the best way to finance the future growth of the company and then we'll have that conversation." Mr Costolo said the disastrous IPOs of other social media firms like Facebook, whose stock has fallen as much as 50 per cent since May, is not a factor in considering whether or when to go public.

"Nothing external to the company has had any bearing on how I think about when to take Twitter a public company or not to," he said.