ZT Online Developer Giant Interactive Reports Drop In Q2 Profits

Chinese online game company Giant Interactive, developer of major MMO series ZT Online, has posted financial results for the second fiscal quarter ended June 30, noting a significant drop in profits year-on-year. The company noted that the decrease was down to a one-time accrued withholding tax, associated with a special dividend that will be paid out to company shareholders during the third quarter of the current fiscal year. During the quarter, the company saw revenue increase by 35.6 percent to RMB436.2 million ($67.5 million) year-on-year. However, profits were down a significant 94.5 percent compared to the same quarter last year, at RMB10.2 million ($1.6 million). Active accounts in Giant's online games were down 5 percent to 2 million, compared to the same quarter last fiscal year. In comparison, average revenue per user was RMB212 ($32.97), down 5.0 percent year-on-year. Over all of Giant's online titles, the company saw an average of 654,000 concurrent users, down 2.4 percent year-on-year, while its peak concurrent user rate was 2.1 million, an increase of 28.1 percent compared to the same quarter last year. Giant said that anticipation for its upcoming ZT Online 2 will lead to top-line growth in the next quarter. The original ZT Online is notorious for its aggressive monetization strategies. Yuzhu Shi, Giant's Chairman and CEO commented, "Our segmentation strategy, coupled with ongoing investment on the development and marketing fronts enabled us to expand our customer base and once again deliver sequential top-line growth this quarter."