The strong growth in net profit consolidated NetEase position as the most profitable Internet firm in China when earnings at portals Sina Corp and Sohu.com Inc dropped or were unchanged while rival Shanda Networking reported a loss in the period.

NetEase's profit totaled 293 million yuan (US$36.63 million) in the first quarter against 153 million yuan a year ago. Total revenues for the quarter grew 61.7 percent year on year to 529.8 million yuan. NetEase's online game profit margin for the first quarter improved slightly to 90.7 percent from 89.0 percent.

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