Chinese portal Sohu reports $45 million loss

BEIJING (AP) — Sohu.com Inc., operator of a popular Chinese Internet portal, says it lost $45 million in the latest quarter while revenue rose 18 percent to $400 million.

Sohu said Monday the loss for the three months ended June 30 compared with a $69 million loss in the previous quarter and an operating profit of $64 million in the same period of 2013.

Profits at China’s Internet companies have been squeezed by heavy spending to build a mobile presence as Chinese Web surfers shift quickly to going online wirelessly through smartphones and tablet computers.

Sohu operates online media, search, gaming, community and mobile services.

In a statement, its chairman, Charles Zhang said its news and video businesses “made solid progress in mobile monetization” as growing user numbers attracted advertisers.