May 6 (Reuters) - Snap said on Wednesday its

first-quarter revenue rose 12% on the back of resilient

advertising spending and that its number of daily active users

returned to growth, driven by markets outside of North America

and Europe.

The Snapchat parent, squeezed between dominant platforms

such as TikTok and Meta's Instagram in a crowded social

media market, has been turning to subscriptions to boost its

revenue, which comes predominantly from advertising sales.

Snap and artificial intelligence start-up Perplexity

"amicably" ended their $400 million deal in the first quarter,

it said on Wednesday, around six months after announcing it.

The Perplexity integration was aimed to offer verifiable

answers to users' questions within the Snapchat app.

Snap's first-quarter revenue of $1.53 billion came in line

with LSEG-compiled analysts' average estimate.

The company expects second-quarter revenue of $1.52 billion

to $1.55 billion, the mid-point of which is largely in line with

estimates of $1.54 billion.

Snap reported 483 million daily active users in the first

quarter, adding 9 million from the prior quarter. However, daily

active users in major market North America declined, while

revenue growth in the region slowed to 2% in the first quarter.

Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and

amortization came in at $233.3 million, beating estimates of

$205.9 million, helped by improved operational efficiencies.

The results come a month after Snap said it would lay off

about 1,000 employees, including 16% of full-time staff. The

move, which also included the closure of more than 300 open

roles, came after Irenic Capital Management pushed the company

to optimize its portfolio and improve performance.

The company said in February that its Snapchat+ subscribers

have surpassed 25 million.