China’s Tencent Holdings Ltd posted a 11 per cent rise in first-quarter revenue on Wednesday, beating analyst expectations, as its core advertising and gaming businesses recovered from Covid-19-related disruptions a year earlier.
The world’s largest video game company and operator of the WeChat messaging platform said revenue reached US$21.70 billion for the three months ended March 31.
That compared with the $ 20.8 billion average of 17 analyst estimates compiled by Refinitiv.
Net profit rose 11 per cent to $3.6 billion, versus a $4.2 billion yuan average analyst estimate.
Tencent posted its first annual revenue decline last year, hit hard by the country’s now-abandoned zero-Covid policy as well as a months-long freeze on gaming licences by regulators that prevented it from releasing new games.
But it is likely heading for a rebound this year after the government resumed licence approvals late last year. The firm unveiled a long pipeline of games on Monday including seven titles ready to go online this summer.
Domestic gaming revenue gained 6 per cent to $5 billion while international gaming revenue rose 25 per cent to $1.8 billion.
Tencent also saw revenue from online ads rose 17 per cent to $3 billion.
Revenue from fintech and business services grew 14 per cent to $6.9 billion as the firm continued to expand in those areas.
- Reporting by Josh Ye; Editing by Christopher Cushing and Edwina Gibbs, of Reuters.
