(RTTNews) - Online media company Sohu.com Inc. (SOHU: News ) on Monday reported a drop in net profit available to shareholders from last year, as net income attributable to the company's non-controlling interest in online game maker Changyou.com (CYOU: News ) increased from the year-ago period. Total revenues grew 13% year-on-year. Looking ahead, Sohu issued its fourth-quarter earnings projection within analysts' estimated range.

Net income attributable to Sohu.com for the third quarter decreased to $37.35 million or $0.88 per share from $40.26 million or $1.02 per share last year.

The Beijing, China-based company's net income for the quarter increased to $47.08 million from $40.24 million in the previous year. Net income attributable to non-controlling interest in Changyou was $9.73 million, compared to a net loss attributable to non-controlling interest of $22 thousand in the prior year.

Changyou's massively multi-player online role-playing games, or MMORPG, business began operations as a business unit within Sohu.com Inc. in 2003. Changyou was carved out as a
separate, stand-alone company in December 2007.

On a non-GAAP basis, excluding share-based compensation expense, quarterly net income attributable to the company was $40.92 million or $0.96 per share, lower than $42.82 million or $1.08 per share reported in the previous year.

On average, 11 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report earnings of $0.89 per share. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.
The company had previously projected third-quarter adjusted net income to be in the range of $50.0 million and $52.0 million. After deducting adjusted share of net income to non-controlling interest in Changyou, Sohu expected net income to be between $36.0 million and $38.0 million, and earnings per share to be between $0.92 and $0.97.

Total revenues grew to $136.59 million from $120.68 million in the prior-year quarter. Analysts expected revenues of $136.36 million. Sohu's revenue forecast for the quarter ranged between $133.5 million and $137.5 million.

Advertising revenues for the quarter decreased to $50.79 million from $51.14 million in the prior year. Revenue from Brand advertising slipped to $48.50 million from $49.40 million, while Sponsored search generated $2.29 million, up from last year's $1.74 million.

Third-quarter revenue from the Online games segment increased to $68.68 million from $54.60 million reported for the year-ago quarter. Revenue from Game operations in the latest period advanced 29% to $66.9 million, mainly due to increased popularity of Changyou's flagship game, Tian Long Ba Bu or TLBB. Wireless and others generated $17.11 million in revenues compared to $14.94 million last year.

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