Snapchat valued at $24bn

Snap, owner of social media mobile app Snapchat, has been valued at US$24bn ahead of its flotation on the US stock exchange.

Snapchat, which has never made a profit, allows users to send images, videos and messages that disappear after being viewed but has also made a flurry of deals with TV and production entities.

Last month Discovery Communications forged an agreement to create shortform programming for Snapchat, while BBC Worldwide has also linked up to offer exclusive Planet Earth II content to the app’s users.

Disney-ABC has also signed up to produce exclusive content for the messaging app, beginning with an original series based on reality show The Bachelor.

Meanwhile, Sony Entertainment CEO Michael Lynton, who has been involved with Snap since its early days of operation, recently revealed he was leaving Sony to join the social media company.

Snapchat, founded by Evan Spiegel and Bobby Murphy, previously launched an originals offering via its Snap Channels service, with former Fox comedy exec Marcus Wiley brought on board to oversee its operations.

However, the service, which provided users with branded daily video clips and other related content, was shuttered in 2015 with Wiley later departing.

Analysts are divided on the company’s prospects, with Trip Chowdhry, MD of equity research at Global Equities Research, describing the stock as “total junk” in January.

User growth has been slowing over recent months and the company lost US$515m last year against revenue of $404m. However, it is seen as a key portal to attract millennials and its shares, priced at US$17 apiece, were 10 times oversubscribed.