Russia's Mail.ru third-quarter revenue jumps 19.9% helped by gaming

(Reuters) - Russian internet group Mail.ru on Monday reported a 19.9% rise in third-quarter revenue as lockdowns boosted gaming though growth slowed from the second quarter as restrictions eased.

Mail.ru, which owns the popular Vkontakte and Odnoklassniki social networking websites, generates the bulk of its revenue from advertising and games.

The London-listed company reported total revenue of 26.37 billion roubles ($344.90 million). Gaming revenue jumped 33.8%, easing from a rise of 47.7% in the second quarter. Net profit fell 19.5% year-on-year to 2.84 billion roubles.

Mail.ru expects gaming revenue to grow by about 30% in 2020, as it expands the segment.

Earlier this month, its My.Games unit agreed to take a controlling stake in Russian game developer Deus Craft for up to $49.1 million.

Mail.ru said consolidation of Deus Craft had contributed to the growth in gaming revenue. Excluding Deus Craft's contribution, total revenue rose by 16.2% to 25.55 billion roubles.

Advertising revenue increased 5% year-on-year with activity gradually recovering in the third quarter, it said.

The company expects 2020 revenue to reach 103 billion roubles, within the range it forecasted prior to the pandemic.

(Reporting by Anna Rzhevkina and Olga Vyshnevska; editing by Jason Neely, Kirsten Donovan)