SINA Corp, operator of China's largest Web portal, rose 87 percent in first-quarter profit on soaring advertising income.

Its net income reached US$16.1 million, or 27 US cents a share, in the quarter from a year earlier, and its sales climbed 39 percent to US$71.3 million under US accounting methods, the Shanghai-based company said yesterday.

The company's ad sales grew 51 percent to US$47.8 million and non-ad business rose 20 percent to US$23.5 million. The first quarter is usually the off-season for ad sales for the company, it said.

¡®We had an excellent first quarter to start the year,¡¯ the company said. ¡®The growth of our advertising revenue has been accelerating.¡¯

¡®We are equally pleased with our continued success in building our Web 2.0 product lines with the launch of SINA Space and SINA TV.¡¯

For the second quarter, the company said it expects revenue of US$88 million to US$90 million.

Sina is increasing spending on content construction and competing for resources such as copyright videos from Europe's leading soccer leagues to increase traffic and attract more advertisers.