SAN FRANCISCO (REUTERS) - Twitter Inc reported anaemic user growth during the final three months of 2013, sending shares sinking after its first quarterly report as a public company.

Shares dropped more than 10 per cent to US$58 in after hours trading.

The company reported US$243 million (S$309 million) in revenue during the fourth quarter, topping investors' expectations of US$218.2 million, on average.

But user growth, a closely watched metric, appeared to falter. It averaged 241 million monthly users, up just 3.8 per cent from the previous quarter - the lowest rate since Twitter began disclosing its user figures.

Twitter's user numbers grew at 10 per cent, 7 per cent, and 6 per cent during the first three quarters of the year, respectively.

Twitter, which held a highly-anticipated initial public offering in November at US$26 a share, has divided investor opinion in the months since as shares more than doubled to more than US$66 despite an absence of news.