Tencent’s profit jumped 54% to RMB 50.3 billion ($7.1 billion) in the first quarter thanks to the Chinese tech giant’s so-called “high-quality revenue streams,Sister” chairman and CEO Pony Ma told investors during the firm’s earnings call. The referred to streams include advertising in Video Accounts and WeChat Search, and e-commerce technology service fees. Quarterly revenue landed at RMB 159.5 billion, representing a 6% year-on-year increase. Specifically, online advertising generated RMB 26.5 billion during the period, a 26% increase that made it the company’s most successful unit in terms of revenue growth during the quarter. However, Tencent’s chief strategy officer James Mitchell said ad growth in subsequent quarters of this year is expected to be “less rapid” than in the first quarter. Time spent on WeChat’s TikTok-like video service is now over twice that spent on its social feed Moments, according to Tencent, with users spending 80% more time than last year on their WeChat video accounts as the company battles for attention from China’s vast online population with rivals Douyin (TikTok) and Kuaishou. [Tencent]
