Sina Corp., a popular Chinese Web portal, said Thursday its quarterly profit soared 89 percent over a year earlier as the World Cup boosted advertising revenue, according to AP. Earnings for the three months ending June 30 were $25.2 million, or 38 U.S. cents per share, on revenue of $99.4 million, compared with a profit of $13.3 million a year earlier, the Nasdaq-traded company announced. Advertising revenue grew 27 percent to $73.1 million, boosted by traffic for Sina's World Cup coverage, the company said. Revenues from mobile services fell 35 percent to $20 million due to billing changes by China Mobile Ltd., the dominant mobile carrier. «Sina's ability to rapidly grow online advertising revenues while expanding our profit margin is a reflection of the strength of Sina's brand, market influence and online media capabilities,» said CEO Charles Chao in a statement. China has the world's most populous Internet market, with 420 million people online at the end of June, according to the government. For the coming quarter, Sina said it estimates net revenues of between $101.0 million and $104.0 million.
