Tencent headquarters in the Nanshan district of Shenzhen, China. David Kirton/Reuters

China’s Tencent Holdings marked a return to revenue growth in the first quarter as it recovered from Covid-19-related disruptions and a regulatory freeze on gaming licences a year earlier.

The world’s largest videogame company and operator of the WeChat messaging platform on Wednesday posted an 11% rise in revenue, beating analyst expectations.

Revenue reached C¥150-billion (R417-billion) for the three months ended 31 March, topping the C¥146.1-billion expected by 17 analysts polled by Refinitiv. Net profit rose 11% to C¥25.8-billion, missing the C¥29.7-billion expected by analysts.

Tencent posted its first annual revenue decline last year, hit hard by China’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 last year. The firm unveiled a long pipeline of games on Monday including seven titles ready to go online this summer.

“During the first quarter of 2023, we achieved solid revenue growth as our payment volumes benefitted from, and facilitated, domestic consumption recovery, our games revenue improved and our advertising revenue sustained rapid growth,” Tencent said in a statement.

Record revenue

Two of Tencent’s most popular games — Honour of Kings and CrossFire — earned record revenue thanks to new added features and promotions, while newly launched games also recorded solid sales and user growth.

Domestic gaming revenue gained 6% to C¥35.1-billion while international gaming revenue rose 25% to C¥13.2-billion.