Chinese tech giant Tencent released quarterly results on Wednesday.
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Tencent reported an 11% rise in quarterly revenue on Wednesday, marking its fastest growth in more than a year, as the company saw a big rebound in payment volumes, ad sales and games.
Here’s how Tencent did in the first quarter, compared to Refinitiv’s consensus estimates:
- Income: 150 billion Chinese yuan (US$21.4 billion) versus expectations of 146.09 billion yuan, up 11%% year on year.
- Profit attributable to shareholders in the company: 25.8 billion yuan compared to 31 billion yuan expected, up 10% year-on-year.
The results mark a strong rebound to growth for Tencent after a succession of negative and flat quarters. The company said in its results that it benefited from a solid recovery in domestic consumption in China, which finally began to ease its aggressive Covid-19 restrictions in December.
Net profit “increased at a faster pace, reflecting a positive revenue mix shift, operational efficiency and an easy base period,” Tencent said in the report on Wednesday.
Investors focused on whether the reopening of China’s economy will provide a boost to the country’s tech giants, including Tencent. China’s economy grew 4.5% in the first quarter, the fastest pace in a year.
The Chinese technology industry as a whole faced intensive review as part of a broader stricter rules on China’s domestic technology sector that began in late 2020 and stripped more than a combined $1 trillion from the country’s largest companies.
But of late there have been signs that the central government is softens his stance against internet titans like Tencent, Alibabaand Didi.
In 2021, Chinese regulators froze the approval of new video game releases, which hit Tencent hard. But in recent months, Beijing has loosened its grip on the industry, green-lighting more titles for release.
In the midst of a tougher gaming market at home, Tencent has increased its focus on international markets.
Tencent, a major owner and investor in technology companies worldwide, has shed some of its equity investments as Beijing remains on high alert about the size of domestic technology companies.
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