Tencent Holdings, operator of China's largest instant messaging platform, said profit rose 85 percent due to strong growth in its Internet services.

Net profit for the second quarter reached 1.19 billion yuan (US$174 million) compared to 644 million yuan in the year-earlier period and 1.04 billion yuan in the first quarter, the company said in a statement yesterday.

Revenue in the April-June period reached 2.88 billion yuan, up 80 percent on year. Internet value-added service surged 108 percent on year to 2.16 billion yuan, accounting for 75 percent of total revenue in the second quarter.

Online advertising revenue rose 9.1 percent over last year to 243 million yuan in the second quarter.

Profit for the first half totaled 2.23 billion yuan, an 89 percent year-on-year increase, and revenues rose 78 percent on year to 5.38 billion yuan.

The number of registered instant messaging user accounts rose 5.9 percent from a year earlier to 990 million in the second quarter.

"We continued to strengthen our online platform and monetize on our Internet value-added service as well as online games," Ma Huateng, chairman and CEO of Tencent, said.

"Online advertising is still challenging as advertisers are cautious," he added.

(Shanghai Daily August 13, 2009)