Tencent reported second quarter revenues of 14.385 billion RMB (US$2.328 billion), up 36.6 per cent year on year. However operating profits fell for the period to 4.565 billion RMB (US$738.8 million), a drop of 9.8 per cent from the first quarter, but a rise of 15.9 per cent year on year.
The company also announced that combined Weixin and WeChat messaging services MAU was 235.8 million for the period, an increase of 21.3 per cent from the first quarter and a rise of 176.8 per cent year on year.
The company said in a statement, “Weixin continued to enjoy rapid user growth thanks to its innovative features and compelling user experience, extending its position as the leading smart-phone-only community in China. We stepped up our marketing activities for WeChat in international markets and, as a result, WeChat’s user growth accelerated during the quarter. In August 2013, we introduced new versions of Weixin and WeChat which integrate with services such as online games, stickers and payment, allowing us to broaden our service offering to users and explore new business opportunities.”
However peak simultaneous QQ game platform user accounts online fell to 8.4 million in the period, down 8.7 from the first quarter and a decrease of 4.5 per cent from the same period last year. The company noted that, “the QQ game platform experienced a decline in PCU compared to the same period last year, as increasing mobile usage made user activity pattern more dispersed, and as open platforms impacted user activity.”
Online games revenues rose slightly during a quiet period to 7.595 billion RMB, up by 1.6 per cent from the first quarter. The company commented that, “the online games business benefited from the growth of our major titles such as Dungeon & Fighter and League of Legends as well as new self-developed titles in China, and increased contribution from international markets.”
Tencent’s CEO Ma Huateng said, “The second-quarter performance was driven by our online games and advertising businesses, resulting in a solid financial performance, including healthy profits and free cash flow growth on year-on-year basis. Our mobile and platform investments have enabled us to achieve deep mobile engagement, as demonstrated by rapidly increasing usage of our apps such as Mobile QQ, Mobile Qzone, Weixin, and WeChat on smart phones. Our recent launch of the first mobile game integrated with Mobile QQ and Weixin generated widespread user excitement, exhibiting our platform strength, highly engaged social community and game execution capability. We will continue to increase our investment in mobile apps in order to reinforce our position in China, and to extend our presence to international markets through WeChat.”
