Profit up for Weibo thanks to booming online marketing income

Social networking site Weibo announced its net income jumped 27 percent year on year to US$166.5 million in the fourth quarter, thanks to booming online marketing income from advertisers and smaller enterprises.

Revenue in the three months ended December went up 28 percent to U$481.9 million, and advertising and marketing income grew 25 percent from the previous period, mainly driven by 31 percent growth in revenue from small and medium-sized enterprises and key accounts.

Monthly active users stood at 462 million in December 2018, climbing about 70 million on an annual basis, and mobile visitors contributed 93 percent of the monthly user base.

Total revenue in 2018 surged 49 percent to US$1.72 billion, and profit jumped 62 percent to US$571.8 million.

The Twitter-like service has enabled a variety of formats, such as live-streaming and short videos, to grab user attention and forge closer ties with key opinion leaders to drive a wider range of content.

"Weibo will continue to invest in platform development and to reinforce the social content ecosystem to empower content creators, while capturing higher wallet share in digital advertising budget as well as diversifying monetization opportunities in the long run,” commented Weibo Chief Executive Officer Wang Gaofei.

Weibo estimates revenue in the first quarter to be between US$395 million and US$405 million, representing an annual rise of 20.5 to 23.5 percent.