Chinese gaming and social media giant Tencent Holdings posted a 3% rise in third quarter profit on Wednesday, beating analyst expectations as it flagged the impact of heightened regulatory scrutiny and a slowdown in advertising.
Net profit for the three months to September rose to C¥39.5-billion (US$6.18-billion), above an average Refinitiv estimate of C¥35-billion drawn from 14 analysts.
Revenue climbed 13% to C¥142.4-billion, slightly below expectations.
Sales from mobile games rose 9%, the owner of games such as Honour of Kings and PUBG Mobile said in a statement.
The period also saw China’s largest company by market value hit by new limits on the amount of time minors can spend playing videogames. The government has not approved any new games since August.
Beijing’s year-long crackdown on its once-freewheeling Internet industry has punished well-known companies for engaging in what were previously considered regular market practices, wiping billions of dollars off their market values. — Reported by Brenda Goh, (c) 2021 Reuters