Brief: Tencent reports best quarter ever, thanks to mobile games

Photo credit: Tech in Asia.

The news:

• Tencent has posted record quarterly sales and profit figures for the three months ending March this year.
• The Shenzhen-based company reported quarterly revenue of US$7.2 billion and net income of US$2.1 billion, beating analysts’ predictions of US$6.7 billion and US$1.9 billion, respectively.

Why it matters:

• Tencent has bet on self-developed mobile games, original video content, and advertising as key growth engines – and this appears to be paying off.
• The company’s mobile gaming business was the most significant contributor to the quarter’s better-than-expected results, according to Bloomberg. The in-house title Honor of Kings generated between US$406.5 million and US$435.5 million in gross revenue last month alone.
• Tencent’s self-produced TV drama series Candle in the Tomb got close to 2.5 billion views before it ended in January.
• Revenue from Tencent’s growing online ads business – built largely on its WeChat and QQ social media platforms – increased 47 percent during the quarter, clocking in at US$1 billion.

Source: Bloomberg

Converted from Chinese yuan. Rate: US$1 = RMB 6.89.