Tencent’s Sales Fall for First Time as China’s Economy Sinks
- Staffing fell on a quarterly basis for first time since 2014
- China’s largest corporation underscores extent of malaise
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Tencent Holdings Ltd. logged its first-ever revenue decline after online advertising sales fell by a record, underscoring the extent to which China’s worsening economy is hurting its biggest corporations.
The country’s most valuable company slashed 5,000 jobs or nearly 5% of its workforce -- the first quarterly drop in staffing since 2014 after layoffs rippling through the global tech sector finally hit the WeChat operator. Revenue fell a deeper-than-projected 3% to 134 billion yuan ($19.8 billion) while net income also missed estimates, plunging 56% in the June quarter.