By Josh Ye
HONG KONG (Reuters) -China’s Tencent Holdings said third-quarter revenue climbed 10%, as its games business staged a robust recovery from a regulatory crackdown on the country’s tech sector.
Sales for the world’s largest video game company and operator of the WeChat messaging platform came in at 154.6 billion yuan ($21.4 billion) for the three months to end September, its third straight quarter of revenue growth. That was in line with an LSEG prediction of 155.8 billion yuan drawn from 19 analysts.
Net profit for Asia’s second-biggest company by market value fell 9% to 36.1 billion yuan, compared with an average analyst estimate of 34.6 billion yuan.
Last year was one of the toughest years for Chinese video game companies after a regulatory crackdown that began in 2021 led to an eight month-long freeze in licences for new games and more restrictions on playing time for minors. Tencent ended up posting its first ever annual revenue decline.
This year has been much better for the industry after regulators began resuming granting game licences, even without notable hit titles.
In August, the sector raked in combined revenue of 29.2 billion yuan, the highest level in at least 20 months, according to CNG, a government-backed industry data firm.
($1 = 7.2405 Chinese yuan)
(Reporting by Josh Ye; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)
