By Jiahui Huang


NetEase's profit rose in the fourth quarter, as the Chinese videogame company's sales grew despite the absence of blockbuster game releases.

Net profit rose 67% from a year earlier to 6.58 billion yuan ($914.2 million), the Beijing-based company said Thursday. That missed an estimate for CNY6.85 billion in a FactSet poll of 10 analysts. Non-GAAP net profit, a closely watched metric that excludes share-based compensation expenses, climbed 54% to CNY7.4 billion, missing expectations for CNY7.86 billion provided FactSet.

NetEase's top line was helped by higher net revenue from online games, especially popular titles like "Egg Party" and the "Justice" mobile game.

Revenue increased 7.0% to CNY27.1 billion, undershooting the FactSet-compiled estimate of CNY28.21 billion. Revenue from games and related valued-added services--NetEase's largest segment--climbed 9.6% on the year to CNY20.92 billion.

The company's gaming gross profit margin rose on both a sequential and yearly basis, rising to 69.5% from 69.0% in the third quarter and from 59.1% a year earlier.


Write to Jiahui Huang at jiahui.huang@wsj.com


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

02-29-24 0417ET