China Portal Sohu Quarterly Profit Down 15 Percent

BEIJING (AP) — Sohu.com Inc., a major Chinese Web portal, said Monday that quarterly earnings fell 15 percent from a year earlier on lower revenue from its online games unit, while total sales rose to a record.

Profit for the three months ending Sept. 30 was $34.4 million, or 88 cents per share, the Beijing-based company said. That compared with a $40.3 million profit in the same quarter of 2008.

Profit fell as Sohu factored out a portion of the revenues for its game unit, Changyou.com, which went public in April. Sohu's total sales rose 13 percent from a year earlier to a record $136.6 million.

Sohu offers entertainment, games, a search service and mobile value-added services.

"We remain confident that our online game business will retain its leadership position while continuing to capture additional market share," chairman and CEO Charles Zhang said in a statement.

Chinese Web services have continued to report revenue growth this year as a government stimulus plan helps to buoy consumer spending despite the global economic slowdown.