Tencent has defended a slowdown in revenue growth in its first financial results following Beijing’s crackdown on games aimed at children.
Revenues grew 13 per cent in the three months to September 30 to Rmb142.4bn ($22bn) from the Rmb125.4bn reported in the same period a year earlier. But the sales missed the average forecast of Rmb145.4bn in a Bloomberg poll, and growth was lower than the 20 per cent and 25 per cent growth rates of quarters two and one respectively.
Martin Lau, the company’s president, said stricter regulation was “the new normal” both in China and internationally, He expected the amount of new rules to decrease in the future, though he did not offer details. “The impact on industry will be less and less over time,” he told analysts on Wednesday.