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.