Tencent reports rising revenues, net profits

The headquarters building of Tencent. File photo

Internet giant Tencent has reported year-on-year increases in its revenue and net profit during the fourth quarter of 2022, despite drops in its annual earnings.

Tencent raked in 145 billion yuan (US$21 billion) in revenue in the quarter ending Dec. 31, up 0.5% year on year, according to the company's financial results released Wednesday.

Its net profit rose by 19% year on year to 29.7 billion yuan in the fourth quarter.

The Shenzhen-based company's total revenues and net profits last year were about 554.6 billion yuan and 115.6 billion yuan, respectively, with yearly declines of 1% and 7%.

Ma Huateng, chairman and CEO of Tencent, sounded a note of optimism, saying the firm raised business efficiency, sharpened focus on core activities, and developed new services and revenue lines including video accounts and international games in 2022.

"These changes position us to benefit from, and contribute to, a rebound in China's economic growth, which our users' activity suggests is now underway," he said.

Wednesday's report noted that the international games business contributed 33% of the company's games revenue in the fourth quarter of 2022, up from 28% in the same period of 2021.

Ma said the company is now investing in AI capabilities and cloud infrastructure to embrace foundation models.