Tencent grows

Tencent, China's No. 1 Internet company with the largest user base, said income grew 43 percent in the fourth quarter but profit rose slower due to spending in strategic areas such as social networking and mobile Internet.

Revenue, including online advertising and Internet-value-added services, grew to US$1.26 billion in the three months ended December 31, and profit added 15.3 percent to US$402.6 million, according to a company filing to the Hong Kong stock exchange yesterday.

For 2011, revenue was US$4.5 billion, a 45 percent jump annually, and profit grew 26.7 percent yearly to US$1.6 billion.