Trump Media and Technology Group, the owner of former President Donald Trump’s social networking site Truth Social, lost more than $300 million last quarter, according to its first earnings report as a publicly traded company.

For the three-month period that ended March 31, the company posted a loss of $327.6 million, which it said included $311 million in non-cash expenses related to its merger with a company called Digital World Acquisition Corp., which was essentially a pile of cash looking for a target to merge with. It�s an example of what�s called a special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC, which can give young companies quicker and easier routes to getting their shares trading publicly.

A year earlier, Trump Media posted a loss of $210,300.

Trump Media said collected $770,500 in revenue in the first quarter, largely from its �nascent advertising initiative.” That was down from $1.1 million a year earlier.

�At this early stage in the Company�s development, TMTG remains focused on long-term product development, rather than quarterly revenue,� Trump Media said in its earnings news release.

Earlier this month, the company fired an auditor that federal regulators recently charged with �massive fraud.� The former president�s media company dismissed BF Borgers as its independent public accounting firm on May 3, delaying the filing of the quarterly earnings report, according to a securities filings.

Trump Media had previously cycled through at least two other auditors � one that resigned in July 2023, and another that was terminated its the board in March, just as it was re-hiring BF Borgers.

Shares of Trump Media climbed 36 cents to $48.74 in after-hours trading. The stock, which trades under the ticker symbol �DJT,� began trading on Nasdaq in March and peaked at nearly $80 in late March.

(AP)