Revenue of Sohu's Changyou subsidiary rises 39 pct year-on-year in Q2
Shanghai. July 28. INTERFAX-CHINA - Nasdaq-listed Changyou.com Ltd., a subsidiary of Chinese online portal Sohu.com Inc., announced on July 27 that its revenue increased by 39 percent year-on-year to RMB 455.02 million ($66.6 million) in the second quarter of 2009.
Changyou recorded a net profit of RMB 235.71 million ($34.5 million) for the April to June period, up 9 percent year-on-year, in its first quarterly financial report following the company's initial public offering on April 2, 2009.
Meanwhile, average revenue per user (ARPU) for the company's two massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs) increased by 6 percent from the same period of 2008 to RMB 186 ($27.23).
As of June 30, 2009, aggregate registered user accounts for the two MMORPGs reached 69.1 million, up 53 percent from a year ago, while aggregate peak concurrent users grew by 23 percent year-on-year to 950,000 users, according to the report.
The company said that total revenue for the third quarter of 2009 is expected to reach between RMB 457.76 million ($67 million) and RMB 471.42 million ($69 million), and net profit is forecast to hit between RMB 273.29 million ($40 million) and RMB 280.1 million ($41 million).
Zhao Xufeng, an industry analyst with iResearch, warned that Changyou will face challenges due to a weak game portfolio. "Changyou's future remains uncertain, as the company currently operates only two online games. It is integral that the company develop and operate additional games to expand its product portfolio in order to compete with major rivals such as Shanda Interactive Entertainment Ltd., Giant Interactive Group Inc. and NetEase.com Inc.," Zhao said.
Changyou's parent company Sohu reported total revenue of RMB 868.37 million ($127.1 million) and a net profit of RMB 289.02 million ($42.3 million) in the second quarter of 2009, up 25 percent and 5 percent year-on-year, respectively.
-HJL