Mainland internet media giant Sohu.com is targeting solid gains this first quarter after posting record revenue and strong net profit in the quarter to December that beat analysts' estimates.
The Beijing-based company, which operates the country's fourth-most visited website and controls popular online games provider Changyou.com, yesterday reported a 35.8 per cent increase in net profit to US$44 million, compared with US$32.4 million a year ago, on significant results generated from its brand advertising, online game and search businesses.
That profit was higher than the average US$38.04 million estimate from analysts compiled by Thomson Reuters and the US$38.6 million forecast of analysts polled by Bloomberg.
Fourth-quarter revenue for Sohu. com, which is listed on the Nasdaq Stock Market in the United States, rose 27 per cent to US$173.2 million from US$135.8 million in the previous year.
Brand advertising rose 31 per cent to US$60.1 million from US$45.9 million, while online game income from Changyou.com grew 30 per cent to US$91.7 million from US$70.7 million. Search income increased 126 per cent to US$6.6 million from US$2.9 million, but mobile-related revenue fell 8 per cent to US$14.8 million from US$16.3 million.
'While I am encouraged by these strong results across our multiple business lines, I am even more excited when we look beyond our financial performance,' said Charles Zhang Chaoyang, the chairman and chief executive of Sohu.com.
Zhang said Sohu.com's efforts in online video, especially in securing high-quality authorised content, had taken the company's domestic market share from 3.4 per cent to 13.4 per cent in the past 12 months.