Tencent's gaming bets pay off big

Tencent Holdings investments in blockbuster video and gaming content are paying off. China’s largest internet company posted record quarterly sales and profit that topped all analysts’ estimates as blockbuster titles including Honour of Kings drove a billion-plus users on WeChat and QQ to spend on game items, Bloomberg reports. Thomas Chong, an analyst at BOC International, estimates that Honour of Kings will contribute more than 50% of Tencent’s smartphone game revenue this year, and that it recorded monthly gross revenue of 2.8 billion to 3 billion yuan in April. Revenue climbed to 49.6 billion yuan ($7.2 billion) in the three months ended March, the company said on Wednesday, surpassing the 46.4 billion yuan analysts projected on average. Net income climbed to 14.5 billion yuan, compared with the 13 billion yuan projected. The results included “net other gains” of 3.2 billion yuan, six times a year earlier.