Tencent recorded increased games revenue in the second quarter of 2020, stimulated by a rise in its global smartphone offerings, and looked to expand its investment efforts to capture the digital transformation landscape.

In an earnings statement, CEO Ma Huateng hailed the company’s resilience during the period, with “generally robust operating and financial results” a testament to “the diligence of our teams and resilience of our business model”.

He pledged to invest in talent, technology and platforms “in a disciplined manner to embrace the emerging structural opportunities and challenges ahead”.

Net profit attributable to shareholders increased 37.3 per cent year-on-year to CNY33.1 billion ($4.8 billion), on revenue of CNY114.8 billion, 29 per cent higher.

Online games revenue rose 40 per cent to CNY38.2 billion: Tencent noted smartphones generated CNY35.9 billion of the total.

Social networks revenue grew 29 per cent to CNY26.7 billion, boosted by services including live game streaming platform Huya, music subscriptions and in-game virtual item sales. Fintech and Business Services sales were 30 per cent higher at CNY29.8 billion, and Online Advertising increased 13 per cent to CNY18.5 billion.

Media advertising revenue declined 25 per cent to CNY3.2 billion due to lower income from Tencent Video and delays in content production and releases.

Monthly active users (MAUs) on WeChat and Chinese version Weixin rose by 6.5 per cent to 1.2 billion, though the smart device MAU of instant messaging platform QQ fell 8.4 per cent to 648 million.