(Yicai Global) March 23 -- China Literature’s shares surged after the Tencent Holdings-backed online publisher returned to the black last year after selling investments and intangible assets

After soaring as much as 15 percent earlier today, China Literature [HKG: 0772] closed out trading 8.5 percent higher at HKD33.90 (USD4.33).

Net profit was CNY1.8 billion (USD282.6 million) in the year ended Dec. 31, versus a net loss of CNY4.5 billion in 2020, according to the earnings report the Shanghai-based company released yesterday. Revenue rose 1.7 percent to CNY8.7 billion.

China Literature earned CNY1.3 billion from selling investment stakes in companies and CNY134 million (USD21.1 million) from disposing of intangible assets.

Online business revenue rose 9.6 percent to CNY5.3 billion in 2021 from a year earlier, making up 61 percent of total revenue, the firm said. But income from products on its own app fell 1.4 percent to CNY3.8 billion, mainly because of a high base number last year, which resulted from a larger number of online visits due to the pandemic in the first half of 2020.

Online revenue from Tencent’s self-operated channels surged 28 percent to CNY809 million and that from third-party platforms more than doubled to CNY651.1 million.

The number of average monthly paying users for products on China Literature’s app dropped 14.7 percent to 8.7 million, while average monthly revenue per paid user rose 14.4 percent to CNY39.70 (USD6.24).

The company did not issue guidance for this quarter.

Editor: Futura Costaglione