Shanda Grows Net Income by 25%

Shanda's net revenues increased 42.0% year-over-year and 9.1% quarter-over-quarter to a record high of RMB 1,107.1 million (US$162.0 million), compared to the company's previous guidance of quarter-over-quarter growth between 3% and 5%.

Net income increased 25.0% year-over-year and 10.6% quarter-over-quarter to RMB 361.0 million (US$52.8 million).

On April 16, 2009, Shanda Games commercially launched AION: The Tower of Eternity and the title is proving to be a hit. MMORPGs related revenues in the first quarter of 2009 increased 47.4% year-over-year and 8.0% quarter-over-quarter to RMB 944.5 million (US$138.2 million), accounting for 85.3% of net revenues.

The number of active paying accounts for MMORPGs increased 22.1% sequentially to 7.19 million in the first quarter of 2009, primarily due to the company's efforts to convert free players to paying users.

ARPU for MMORPGs was RMB 43.8in the first quarter of 2009, compared with RMB 49.5 in the fourth quarter of 2008.