Tencent Holdings Ltd. announced unaudited consolidated earnings results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2013. For the quarter, the company reported revenues of RMB 13,547,554,000 compared with RMB 9,647,858,000 for the same period a year ago. Profit before income tax was RMB 5,100,129,000 compared with RMB 3,613,003,000 for the same period a year ago. Non-GAAP profit attributable to equity holders of the company was RMB 4,037,730,000 compared with RMB 3,281,064,000 for the same period a year ago. EBITDA was RMB 5,157,462,000 compared with RMB 4,254,547,000 for the same period a year ago. Adjusted EBITDA was RMB 5,438,182,000 compared with RMB 4,461,209,000 for the same period a year ago. Capital expenditures was RMB 1,034,598,000 compared with RMB 662,130,000 for the same period a year ago. Operating profit was RMB 5,062,518,000 compared with RMB 3,691,358,000 for the same period a year ago. Non-GAAP operating profit was RMB 5,060,890,000 compared with RMB 4,068,288,000 for the same period a year ago. Profit attributable to equity holders was RMB 4,043,819,000 or RMB 2.166 per diluted share compared with RMB 2,949,510,000 or RMB 1.587 per diluted share for the same period a year ago. The increase in revenue was primarily driven by growth in revenues from China, where major titles such as Cross Fire, Dungeon and Fighter (DnF) and League of Legends (LoL) benefited from the positive impacts of Chinese New Year holidays, the winter break for students, and favourably-received expansion packs, assisted by increased contributions from certain new self-developed titles. Net cash flows generated from operating activities was RMB 6,978,391,000 against RMB 4,863,761,000 for the same period a year ago. For the rest of the year, the company will continue to expand its geographic presence in China and optimise eCommerce infrastructure. The company is also enhancing the user experience of B2C marketplace by working with selected premium merchants to improve product selection and customer service.

Tencent Holdings Ltd. announced to have completed a staff reduction exercise at its game development team in the United States, with around 20 employees, or about 40% of the workforce, being affected. The move by its US unit was taken in view of the social gaming market condition there.

Sohu.com Inc. (NasdaqGS:SOHU) plans to sell Beijing Sogou Information Service Co., Ltd. and among the prospective buyers are Baidu, Inc. (NasdaqGS:BIDU), Qihoo 360 Technology Co. Ltd. (NYSE:QIHU) and Tencent Holdings Ltd (HKG: 0700), a person familiar with the matter said. "Unlikely to gain more market share from dominant Baidu and fast-tracking Qihoo 360's So.com, Sogou's decision to sell itself emerged six months ago," said the person. "Qihoo 360 is willing to pay $1.4 billion in a cash plus equity deal; Baidu is able to offer more cash, and Tencent got in because it didn't want Qihoo 360 to purchase Sogou." Wang Xiaochuan, Chief Executive Officer of Sogou, said the news wasn't groundless.