Tencent, the Chinese social media and gaming heavyweight, has posted a 21 per cent rise in full-year profit although its net income in the final three months has slightly undershot analysts’ expectations.
Net income rose by more than a fifth to Rmb28.8bn ($4.44bn) in 2015 as revenue improved by 30 per cent to Rmb102.9bn.
Tencent highlighted the continued shift from people using social media and messaging sites on their smartphones rather than desktop or laptop computers, while it also said online shopping is becoming increasingly widespread in China, especially in what it refers to as “lower-tiered cities”, as the spending power of the Chinese middle classes develops.