Tencent doubles share buy-backs while annual and quarterly results miss estimates amid weaker video gaming sales
- Tencent says it intends to double the size of its share repurchases to more than HK$100 billion this year
- Domestic video game sales, traditionally Tencent’s strongest revenue driver, declined in the fourth quarter
The Hong Kong-listed company saw revenue in the three months ended December 31 rise 7 per cent from a year earlier to 155.2 billion yuan (US$21.5 billion). It missed the consensus estimate of 157.4 billion yuan, according to analysts polled by Bloomberg.
Net income in the period was 27 billion yuan, down 75 per cent due to a high base from gains from the disposal of Meituan shares a year earlier. That was still below the average analysts’ forecast of 33.29 billion yuan.
For the full year, Tencent posted net income of 115.2 billion yuan, down 39 per cent from 2022 and missing expectations of 123.5 billion yuan. Annual revenue grew 10 per cent to 609 billion yuan, slightly below analysts’ estimates of 612.7 billion yuan.
The Shenzhen-based company proposed the payment of a final dividend of HK$3.4 per share for 2023, up 42 per cent from 2022. It said it intends to at least double the size of its share repurchases from HK$49 billion in 2023 to over HK$100 billion this year.
Video game sales, traditionally Tencent’s strongest revenue driver, declined 3 per cent in the domestic market while rising 1 per cent overseas in the fourth quarter, reaching 27 billion yuan and 13.9 billion yuan, respectively.