"As I predicted, 2024 turned out to be a very good year for Telegram. For the first time in its 3-year history of monetisation, Telegram became profitable," Durov announced on his Telegram channel.

The messaging app, which says it has over 950 million users worldwide, had previously operated without fees but began offering paid subscriptions and showing adverts in 2021.

Durov said the move had helped reach revenues exceeding $1 billion, with subscribers to the app's premium service tripling to 12 million.

Dubai-headquartered Telegram had more than $500 million in cash reserves, excluding cryptocurrency assets, Durov said.

The company did not appear to have published any annual accounts to accompany Durov's statement.

In August, the Russian-born Durov was arrested in France and charged with failing to curb extremist and illegal content on Telegram.

Durov, who has French citizenship, was released under strict bail conditions, including reporting to a police station twice a week and not leaving French territory.

In September, the 40-year-old billionaire criticised the French authorities and called their approach misguided.

He nevertheless admitted that the platform's rapid growth had allowed criminals to "misuse" the app more easily.

Durov also said the company's staff had begun using artificial intelligence to ensure "problematic content" in the app's search feature "is no longer accessible".

However, he insisted that "99.999 percent" of users were not involved in criminal activity.