(Yicai Global) Feb. 25 -- NetEase’s shares rose after the Chinese internet giant reported a nearly six-fold increase in fourth-quarter profit from a year earlier because of robust demand for its new games and higher investment returns.

NetEase [HKG: 9999] finished 1.3 percent up today at HKD147.60 (USD18.91), after jumping as much as 4 percent in early morning trade. Its New York-listed stock [NASDAQ: NTES] ended 1.4 percent higher yesterday at USD92.80.

Net profit was CNY5.7 billion (USD902.3 million) in the three months ended Dec. 31, versus CNY975.7 million (USD154.4 million) a year earlier, according to the earnings report the Hangzhou-based firm released late yesterday. Revenue rose 22.3 percent to CNY24.4 billion (USD3.9 billion).

Income from online games jumped 29.8 percent to CNY17.4 billion buoyed by the strong performance of new games Narake: Bladepoin and Harry Potter: Magic Awakened. NetEase said it will promote the hiring of global talent for its top game production teams.

NetEase will speed up its expansion into overseas markets by setting up studios abroad to attract top game producers, Chairman and Chief Executive William Ding said on the company’s earnings conference call.

The firm banked a CNY1.6 billion return on investments over the period, compared with a loss of CNY272 million a year earlier. Fourth-quarter foreign exchange losses also shrank to CNY331 million from CNY1.8 billion.

For the full year ended Dec. 31, net profit soared 37.7 percent to CNY17 billion on a 18.9 percent rise in revenue to CNY87.6 billion. Online gaming contributed CNY62.8 billion, NetEase Cloud Music CNY7 billion, and education technology unit Youdao CNY5.4 billion, the company said.

Editors: Dou Shicong, Futura Costaglione