Revenue and profit up at Tencent despite stagnant games revenue

Tencent reported year-over-year increases in both revenue and profit for the first quarter of its 2019 financial year, though the company’s online games business didn’t share in that growth.

For the company as a whole, Tencent reported RMB 85.5 billion (~$12.4 billion) in revenue for the first quarter, up 16 percent year-over-year. Profit for that same period came in at RMB 27.9 billion (~$4.1 billion), a 16 percent increase year-over-year.

Tencent’s online games business remained steady for the quarter, seeing RMB 28.5 billion (~$4.1 billion) for the quarter, a 1 percent decrease year-over-year while cash receipts for the games business increased by 10 percent from the same period in 2018. The company does note in the report that both cash receipts and reported revenue increased on a quarter-on-quarter basis.

Just smartphone games accounted for RMB 21.2 billion (~$3.1 billion) for the quarter, down 2 percent from the preceding year due to a lull in game releases, though daily active users saw a year-on-year increase.

For PC games meanwhile, Tencent reported RMB 13.8 billion (~$2 billion), also down 2 percent year over year but up 24 percent from the preceding quarter.