CORRECTED - UPDATE 1-Sohu quarterly net soars on games, advertising
(Corrects current quarter per share figure in paragraph three to 39 cents a share and changes "expects" to "expenses" in paragraph four) (Adds stock, comparisons, background)
SAN FRANCISCO, Feb 4 (Reuters) - Chinese media company Sohu.com Inc (SOHU.O) on Monday reported a 148 percent rise in quarterly profit, fueled by record growth in advertising and online gaming in the world's second biggest Internet market.
Shares rose 5 percent in extended trade to $51.40 following the report, reversing a 3 percent decline to $48.95 in regular-session trading on Nasdaq ahead of the report.
Sohu, which means "search fox" in Chinese, said fourth-quarter net income rose to $15.1 million, or 39 cents per diluted share, compared with $6.1 million, or 16 cents per diluted share, in the year-earlier quarter.
Excluding stock option expenses, the company reported a profit of $17.0 million or 43 cents per diluted share.
Analysts had expected a net profit, on average, of 31 cents per share, according to Reuters Estimates.
Revenue at the Beijing-based company grew 90 percent to $65.3 million, above analysts' average forecast of $56.5 million, according to Reuters Estimates. Forecasts ranged from $54.4 million to $58.0 million.
In December, the company had raised its fourth-quarter outlook to between $55.5 million and $57.5 million, an increase of $2 million over the previous range, saying demand for its Tian Long Ba Bu online game was better than expected.
Analysts say Sohu's growth is being driven by healthy advertising sales in the run-up to the Beijing Olympics this year, as well as robust gaming revenues from its popular game Tian Long Ba Bu, translated as Sky Dragon Eight Factions.
China had 210 million Internet users at the end of 2007, second only to the United States. China is expected to become the world's largest Internet market in terms of users early in 2008, the official Xinhua news agency reported, citing industry sources. ($1=7.182 Yuan) (Reporting by Eric Auchard, editing by Richard Chang, Gary Hill)
