WeChat operator Tencent reports surge in Q1 profit

Agence France Presse
A man uses a mobile phone in front of a logo of Tencent at the Global Mobile Internet Conference (GMIC) 2015 in Beijing last year. (Reuters)

SHANGHAI: Chinese Internet giant Tencent has reported a 33 percent surge in net profit for the first quarter, as its popular messaging app WeChat added more users.
Net profit for the quarter ended in March was 9.18 billion yuan ($1.42 billion), according to a statement. The figure beat an average of estimates compiled by Bloomberg News of 8.71 billion yuan.
“We delivered a strong set of financial results for the first quarter of 2016, and made progress in further building up our social, games and media platforms,” Tencent Chairman and CEO Pony Ma said in the statement.