Weibo reports strong 2016 revenue growth

Social media giant Sina Weibo reported strong revenue growth in 2016 thanks to booming advertising and marketing demand.

The company had net revenue of about $ 655.8 million, up 37 percent year- on- year, according to its financial statement released Thursday.

Advertising and marketing services remained the major source of income, bringing in $ 571 million, up 42 percent.

Revenue from value- added services such as gaming increased 12 percent.

The fourth- quarter growth was impres- sive, outperforming annual growth in many aspects.

CEO Wang Gaofei attributed strong advertising revenue to companies’ growing interest in using mobile, social networking and video marketing tools.

Shares in NASDAQ- listed Weibo rose from less than $ 20 in early 2016 to more than $ 50 by the end of last year.

Weibo had about 313 million monthly active users as of the end of December, up 33 percent year- on- year, with 90 percent of them coming from mobile terminals.