Chinese Internet company Sohu.com has posted record revenues for the fourth quarter and fiscal year ended December 31, 2008, as both web advertising and online games helped push the company to higher returns.
The company posted total revenues of USD121.6 million, up 86% year-on-year, with advertising revenues contributing USD46.6 million — up 38% year-on-year — of that total. Online game revenues hit USD58.4 million, up 7% quarter-on-quarter. For the entire 2008 fiscal year, total revenue hit USD429.1 million; advertising revenues totaled USD175.9 million, up 48% year-on-year; and online game revenues were USD201.8 million.
Dr. Charles Zhang, chairman and CEO of Sohu.com, stated, "We are pleased to report another strong quarter of financial results. The fourth quarter 2008 marks our sixth consecutive quarter of record total revenues and record net income. This is particularly impressive as it follows our strong third quarter 2008 results which reflected our major achievements surrounding the Beijing 2008 Olympics."
Sohu.com estimates total revenues for the first quarter of 2009 to be between USD111.5 million and USD115.5 million, with advertising revenues of USD40.5 million to USD42.5 million and non-advertising revenues of USD71.0 million to USD73.0 million.