0 (NYSE:GA)

SHANGHAI, July 14, 2014 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Giant Interactive Group Inc. (NYSE: GA) ("Giant" or the "Company"), one of China's leading online game developers and operators, announced today that, at an extraordinary general meeting held today, the Company's shareholders voted in favor of the proposal to authorize and approve the previously announced agreement and plan of merger (the ''Merger Agreement'') dated as of March 17, 2014 and amended on May 12, 2014, among the Company, Giant Investment Limited ("Parent") and Giant Merger Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Parent ("Merger Sub"), pursuant to which Merger Sub will be merged with and into the Company with the Company surviving as a wholly owned subsidiary of Parent (the "Merger"), and to authorize and approve any and all transactions contemplated by the Merger Agreement, including the Merger.

Approximately 80% of Giant's total outstanding ordinary shares entitled to vote at the extraordinary general meeting voted in person or by proxy at today's extraordinary general meeting. Of those ordinary shares, approximately 99.6% were voted in favor of the proposal to authorize and approve the Merger Agreement and any and all transactions contemplated by the Merger Agreement, including the Merger.

The parties currently expect to complete the Merger within the month, subject to the satisfaction or waiver of the conditions set forth in the Merger Agreement. Upon completion of the Merger, Giant will become a privately held company and its American depositary shares, each representing one ordinary share, will no longer be listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

• Net revenue was RMB575.1 million (US$92.5 million), down 4.9% QoQ and up 0.4% YoY.
• Basic and diluted earnings per American Depositary Share ("ADS") which represents one ordinary share, were RMB5.01 (US$0.81) and RMB4.84 (US$0.78), respectively, compared to basic and diluted earnings per ADS of RMB0.85 and RMB0.82, respectively, for the fourth quarter 2013, and basic and diluted earnings per ADS of RMB1.36 and RMB1.32, respectively, for the first quarter 2013. Non-GAAP net income attributable to the Company's shareholders was RMB343.1 million (US$55.2 million), down 21.5% QoQ and remained flat YoY. The margin of non-GAAP net income attributable to the Company's shareholders was 59.6%.

Ms. Wei Liu, Giant's Chief Executive Officer commented, "We began 2014 with a sound quarter despite weaker seasonality and lack of new game launches during the first quarter. In-game spending declined sequentially as gamers traveled more during the Chinese New Year holiday. However, the high engagement and playing time demonstrate the enjoyment and loyalty our users experience in our games. Our existing games were stable during the first quarter as we prepared to launch new growth catalysts from our pipeline."

"Jianghu, our new flagship in-house developed MMORPG, entered into closed beta testing on May 16. We have provided our gamers with a brand new experience with innovative gameplay. Initial results have been quite positive, and we are confident the game will keep growing and be our largest catalyst this year. For licensed games, we have made good progress in the localization of Cang Tian 2. We are working closely with WeMade to prepare the game for the Chinese market launch later this year. We have also recently signed the Chinese publishing rights to another international blockbuster game. Both licensed games are complementary to our self-developed games and will help diversify our user base."

"During the quarter, we made considerable progress in our mobile game strategy, and we are excited to start capturing the growing mobile game market in China. We have recruited top talents to join our mobile division to strengthen our mobile game development and distribution capabilities. We are gearing up to launch our first self-developed mobile games and we have ten mobile game projects currently under development. These projects span multiple genres such as ARPG, card battle, tower defense, strategy and casual, to attract a diversity of mobile gamers. The projects are also a mix of internally developed, licensed from third party developers and developed by studios in which we are an equity investor. We have been working with famous intellectual properties, such as the Chinese version of the hit TV show, So You Think You Can Dance, to launch mobile games. Mobile is a priority for the future and we will also dedicate resources on mobile platforms, publishing, and M&A."

"With our elite game development and publishing capabilities, and diversification into multiple platforms and devices, we are confident in our growth prospects for 2014 and beyond."

NEW YORK, March 17, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Giant Interactive Group Inc. (NYSE: GA) ("Giant" or the "Company"), one of China's leading online game developers and operators, announced today, March 17, 2014 in Shanghai, China that it has entered into a definitive Agreement and Plan of Merger (the "Merger Agreement") with Giant Investment Limited ("Parent") and Giant Merger Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Parent ("Merger Sub").

Pursuant to the Merger Agreement, Parent will acquire the Company for cash consideration equal to US$12.00 per ordinary share of the Company (each, a "Share") and US$12.00 per American Depositary Share of the Company, each representing one Share (each, an "ADS"), or approximately US$3.0 billion in aggregate cash consideration. This represents an 18.5% premium over the closing price of US$10.13 per ADS as quoted by the New York Stock Exchange (the "NYSE") on November 22, 2013, and a premium of 31.6% and 33.6%, respectively, over the Company's 30- and 60- trading day volume-weighted average price as quoted by the NYSE prior to November 22, 2013, the last trading day prior to the Company's announcement on November 25, 2013 that it had received a non-binding "going private" proposal from the chairman of the board of directors of the Company, Mr. Yuzhu Shi (and certain of his affiliated entities), and an affiliate of Baring Private Equity Asia (Baring Private Equity Asia together with funds managed and entities controlled by it, "Baring"), to acquire all of the outstanding Shares, including Shares represented by ADSs, not already owned by them.

The consideration to be paid to holders of Shares and ADSs pursuant to the Merger Agreement also represents an increase of approximately 2.1% from the original US$11.75 per Share and US$11.75 per ADS offer price in the November 25, 2013 "going private" proposal.

Immediately following the consummation of the transactions contemplated by the Merger Agreement, Parent will be beneficially owned by a consortium (the "Buyer Group") comprising a company owned by Mr. Shi, an affiliate of Baring and an affiliate of Hony Capital Fund V, L.P. (Hony Capital Fund V, L.P., together with funds managed and entities controlled by it, "Hony Capital"). As of the date of the Merger Agreement, the members of the Buyer Group beneficially own in aggregate approximately 49.3% of the issued and outstanding Shares.

Subject to the terms and conditions of the Merger Agreement, at the effective time of the Merger, Merger Sub will merge with and into the Company, with the Company continuing as the surviving corporation and a wholly owned subsidiary of Parent (the "Merger"), and each of the Shares issued and outstanding immediately prior to the effective time of the Merger (including Shares represented by ADSs) will be cancelled in consideration for the right to receive US$12.00 per Share or US$12.00 per ADS, in each case, in cash, without interest and net of any applicable withholding taxes, except for (i) up to 59,890,972 Shares held by Union Sky Holding Group Limited, a company owned by Mr. Shi ("Union Sky"), 11,800,000 Shares held by Baring Private Equity Asia Holding (12) Limited, a company owned by Baring ("Baring SPV", and together with Union Sky, the "Rollover Shareholders"), and Shares held by Parent, the Company or any of their subsidiaries immediately prior to the effective time of the Merger, which Shares will be cancelled without payment of any consideration or distribution therefor, (ii) Shares owned by holders who have validly exercised and not effectively withdrawn or lost their rights to dissent from the Merger pursuant to Section 238 of the Companies Law of the Cayman Islands, which Shares will be cancelled at the effective time of the Merger for the right to receive the fair value of such Shares determined in accordance with the provisions of Section 238 of the Companies Law of the Cayman Islands, and (iii) 37,500,000 Shares held by Union Sky immediately prior to the effective time of the Merger, which will be cancelled in exchange for Union Sky's right to receive a promissory note to be issued to Union Sky in the aggregate principal amount of US$450,000,000, which is equal to the product of (a) 37,500,000 and (b) US$12.00, which note will be issued by the Company and bear simple interest at two percent per annum. As a result of the transactions contemplated by the Merger Agreement, Mr. Shi will retain approximately one-half of his pre-transaction beneficial ownership in the Company, while selling the remainder for cash and a promissory note based on the same price per Share and per ADS as is to be paid to unaffiliated holders of Shares and ADSs, respectively, in the Merger.

The Buyer Group intends to fund the Merger through a combination of (i) cash contributions from affiliates of Baring and Hony Capital pursuant to equity commitment letters, (ii) the proceeds from a committed and underwritten loan facility contemplated by a debt commitment letter dated March 17, 2014 pursuant to which China Minsheng Banking Corp., Ltd., Hong Kong Branch, BNP Paribas Hong Kong Branch, Credit Suisse AG, Singapore Branch, Deutsche Bank AG, Singapore Branch, Goldman Sachs (Asia) L.L.C., Goldman Sachs Lending Partners LLC, ICBC International Finance Limited and JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. have agreed as underwriters and/or mandated lead arrangers to underwrite and/or arrange (directly or through their affiliates) an aggregate of US$850 million in debt financing for the Merger, subject to certain conditions, and (iii) cash in the Company and its subsidiaries.

Fourth Quarter 2013 Unaudited Financial Results 

• Net Revenue  for the fourth quarter 2013 was RMB604.6 million (US$99.9 million), representing a 2.5% increase fromRMB590.0 million in the third quarter 2013, and a 5.8% increase from RMB571.7 million in the fourth quarter 2012.
• Basic and diluted non-GAAP net income increased 12.1% and 10.7%, respectively, to RMB6.41 (US$1.06) and RMB6.22(US$1.03), respectively.

Ms. Wei Liu, Giant's Chief Executive Officer, commented, "2013 marked another year of consistent and strong growth. We have delivered double-digit annual growth in online game revenue as compared to fiscal year 2012, and sequential quarter-over-quarter growth for the past sixteen consecutive quarters. Our 2013 results were driven by the launch of World of Xianxia, which has become another successful franchise and demonstrates our ability to expand our portfolio without cannibalizing existing games. At the same time, during 2013 we also made great progress in diversifying into new growth areas such as webgames and mobile games, while continuing to lead the industry in profitability."

"Looking towards 2014, we believe we have an exciting lineup of new games starting with Jianghu, a 2D martial arts MMORPG produced by the Company's President, Mr. Xuefeng Ji. Initial testing results have been very positive, and we are confident this game will be a major catalyst this year. Another upcoming client-based game is Cang Tian 2, licensed from WeMade. We have been working extensively with the South Korean developer to localize the game for the Chinese market and are preparing for its debut in the coming quarter."

"Towards the end of 2013, we began launching webgames on several partner platforms and the results have surpassed our expectations. We expect webgames to continue to grow in 2014 and enable us to capture a new audience."

"Mobile games have become a major strategic growth focus for us and we expect some of our prior investments will begin to bear fruit in 2014. Our internally-developed mobile games will hit the market later this year. Our roadmap of mobile games under development has also become much wider, covering genres such as role playing games, side-scrolling action, tower defense, simulation, and real time strategy."

"Besides developing the best games across multiple genres in-house, we are also continuing to pursue cooperation with third party developers and platforms to extend our footprint in the game industry. As we continue to grow in the traditional PC segment while investing in mobile opportunities, we will continue to spend prudently and remain the leader in profitability. We are confident that 2014 will be another banner year for Giant."

SHANGHAI, January 6, 2014 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Giant Interactive Group Inc. (NYSE: GA) ("Giant" or the "Company"), one of China's leading online game developers and operators, issued a clarification statement in response to recent misinformation resulting from an online article released on January 3, 2014.

Giant's Statement

Giant believes that the online article released on January 3, 2014 contains numerous errors of fact and misinterpretations of events, including but not limited to those addressed in this statement.

I. Yunfeng Capital

Yunfeng Capital is a private equity firm established by successful Chinese entrepreneurs Mr. Jack Yun Ma and Mr. David Feng Yu. Yunfeng Capital serves as the general partner of a series of limited partnership funds with approximately $1.8 billion under management and with approximately 80 limited partners in total. Yunfeng Capital's initial fund, Yunfeng Fund L.P., was formed in June 2010. Mr. Shi Yuzhu, along with approximately 20 other well-known entrepreneurs, executives and investors in China (including Mr. Jason Nanchun Jiang), was a limited partner investor in Yunfeng Fund L.P. These limited partner financial investors have previously been referred to by Yunfeng Capital as "founding limited partners."

Since his initial limited partnership investment, Mr. Shi has personally invested in certain other limited partnerships managed by Yunfeng Capital. However, contrary to the online article's allegations, neither Mr. Shi nor Mr. Jiang has ever been general partners or directors of Yunfeng Capital or any fund managed by it.

Both Mr. Shi and Mr. Jiang are passive, financial limited partner investors in Yunfeng Fund L.P. All related investment decisions are made by Yunfeng Capital. Neither Mr. Shi nor Mr. Jiang is a managing partner or director of Yunfeng Capital. Furthermore, neither Mr. Shi nor Mr. Jiang has ever been involved in Yunfeng Capital's management, decision-making, or governance. Mr. Shi's and Mr. Jiang's interests are strictly passive financial investments in an established private equity fund.

II. Investment in Alibaba Group

As announced in September 2011 and disclosed in Giant's SEC filings, Giant committed to invest $50 million in Alibaba Group through limited partnership investments in the Yunfeng e-Commerce Funds, which are limited partnerships managed by Yunfeng Capital that were formed specifically for the purpose of investing in Alibaba Group. The Yunfeng e-Commerce Funds have approximately 11 other limited partners with Giant's limited partnership interest in the Yunfeng e-Commerce Funds representing approximately 10% of the total investments in those funds. Prior to Giant's investment in those limited partnerships, which were ultimately managed by Yunfeng Capital, Mr. David Feng Yu resigned from Giant's board in June 2011. The decision to invest in the Yunfeng e-Commerce Funds was made by Giant's board of directors.

In response to customary SEC comments on Giant's SEC filings, on July 26, 2012 Giant provided additional disclosure relating to its indirect investment in Alibaba Group to (i) describe risks related to indirectly holding the Alibaba Group shares through the Yunfeng e-Commerce Funds and (ii) clarify that 77% of a RMB8.2 million ($1.3 million) equity investment "loss" in 2011 related to Giant's share of the one-off structuring fees in connection with the establishment of the Yunfeng e-Commerce Funds.

In addition, as reflected in Giant's 2012 financial statements, the valuation of Giant's investment in the Yunfeng e-Commerce Funds increased to $60.5 million as of December 31, 2012 (reflecting primarily unrealized appreciation in the Alibaba Group shares through the end of 2012). Based on the latest information available, Giant believes that this investment has further appreciated to a value significantly higher than its investment net of related costs and expenses.

III. Independence of Mr. Jason Nanchun Jiang

Mr. Jiang has never been a general partner or director of Yunfeng Capital or any fund managed by it. While Mr. Jiang has a single personal limited partnership investment in Yunfeng Fund L.P., similar to Mr. Shi, Mr. Jiang is strictly a passive, financial investor with no management or other rights.

Neither Mr. Jiang nor Mr. Shi is himself a limited partner investor in the Yunfeng e-Commerce Funds invested in by Giant. Mr. Jiang and Mr. Shi do, however, have a small indirect interest, i.e., 0.52% and 0.92% respectively, in the Yunfeng e-Commerce Funds by virtue of Yunfeng Fund L.P. making limited partnership investment in the Yunfeng e-Commerce Funds. However, the Yunfeng Fund L.P. investment decisions are made by Yunfeng Capital (the general partner), not by Mr. Jiang or Mr. Shi, who as noted are passive limited partners of Yunfeng Fund L.P.

Giant's board of directors has previously determined, and continues to be of the view that Mr. Jiang was and remains an independent director with no material relationship with the Company or its management and that he satisfies the independence requirements under relevant NYSE and SEC rules for sitting on Giant's various board committees.

IV. The Non-Binding Going Private Proposal

As noted in the Letter to Shareholders dated June 7, 2013 by Ms. Wei Liu, Chief Executive Officer of Giant, Mr. Shi sold a portion of his Giant shares through a follow-on offering for personal long term financial planning reasons which would allow more diversity in his personal holdings. The publicly disclosed sale by Mr. Shi of additional shares to another consortium member in conjunction with their joint proposal as part of a consortium to acquire Giant's publicly traded securities in a going-private transaction is consistent with Mr. Shi's desire to diversify his personal holdings.

As previously announced, Giant's board of directors has appointed a Special Committee to evaluate the proposed going-private transaction, and the Special Committee has retained outside counsel and financial advisors. The Special Committee is actively engaged in negotiating the terms of a definitive agreement with the consortium. In addition, Giant has been advised by the consortium that the consortium is actively engaged in ongoing due diligence, and in arranging the necessary additional financing for the proposed transaction. The Special Committee has not set a definitive timetable for the completion of the proposed transaction or an alternative transaction (if any), and does not currently intend to announce further developments unless and until a definitive agreement has been executed. There can be no assurance that any binding definitive offer will be made, that any agreement will be executed or that the proposed transaction or any other transaction will be approved or consummated.

SHANGHAI, December 2, 2013 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Giant Interactive Group Inc. (NYSE: GA) ("Giant" or the "Company"), one of China's leading online game developers and operators, announced today that, on November 26, 2013, its board of directors formed a special committee (the "Special Committee"), comprised of three independent directors of the Company, Mr. Peter Andrew Schloss, Mr. Andy Y. Yan and Mr. Jason Nanchun Jiang, to consider the previously announced non-binding proposal (the "Proposal") received by the Company's board of directors on November 25, 2013 from the Company's Chairman, Mr. Yuzhu Shi, and an affiliate of Baring Private Equity Asia ("Baring"). Since its formation, the Special Committee has been evaluating legal counsel and financial advisors to assist it in considering the Proposal. The Special Committee has retained Fenwick & West LLP as its U.S. legal counsel. Additionally, the Special Committee is in the process of evaluating potential financial advisors to assist the Special Committee in considering the Proposal. Separately, the Company has also retained Kilometre Capital as its outside strategic consultant.

As previously announced, the Proposal contemplates Mr. Shi, Baring and other persons (if any) which may join their buyer consortium, acquiring all of the outstanding shares of the Company, including ordinary shares represented by the Company's American depositary shares or "ADSs" (each representing one ordinary share of the Company) in a going private transaction at a price of US$11.75 in cash per ordinary share or ADS, subject to certain conditions (the "Proposed Transaction").

The Special Committee has not set a definitive timetable for the completion of its evaluation of the Proposed Transaction or any other alternative transaction (if any) and does not currently intend to announce developments unless and until an agreement has been reached. However, there can be no assurance that any definitive offer will be made, that any agreement will be executed or that the Proposed Transaction or any other transaction will be approved or consummated.

SHANGHAI, November 25, 2013 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Giant Interactive Group Inc. (NYSE: GA) ("Giant" or the "Company"), one of China's leading online game developers and operators, announced today that its Board of Directors (the "Board") has received a preliminary non-binding proposal letter, dated November 25, 2013, from the Company's Chairman, Mr. Yuzhu Shi (and certain of his affiliated entities) and an affiliate of Baring Private Equity Asia (collectively, the "Consortium"). According to the proposal letter, the Consortium proposed to acquire all of the Company's outstanding ordinary shares, including ordinary shares represented by the Company's American depositary shares or "ADSs" (each representing one ordinary share of the Company), at a price of US$11.75 in cash per ordinary share or ADS.

As of November 25, 2013, the Consortium members beneficially owned, in the aggregate, approximately 47.2% of the Company's share capital on a fully enlarged basis.

The Consortium's proposal letter states that its proposal constitutes only a preliminary indication of its interest and is subject to negotiation and execution of definitive agreements relating to the proposed transaction. A copy of the proposal letter is attached hereto as Exhibit A.

The Board, other than Mr. Yuzhu Shi, is reviewing and evaluating the Consortium's proposal, and the Company expects that the Board will adopt various procedures and protocols designed to fully and fairly evaluate the proposal as well as safeguard the interest of the Company's shareholders that are unaffiliated with the Consortium, including forming a special committee consisting of independent directors that are unaffiliated with members of the Consortium and not management members of the Company to evaluate and, if appropriate, negotiate the proposal and to consider other strategic options available to the Company. The Company cautions its shareholders and others considering trading in its securities that the Board has just received the proposal letter and has not made any decisions with respect to the Company's response to the proposal. There can be no assurance that any definitive offer will be made by the Consortium or any other person, that any definitive agreement will be executed relating to the proposed transaction, or that the proposed transaction or any other transaction will be approved or consummated.

According to the proposal letter, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, P.C. is acting as U.S. counsel to the Mr. Yuzhu Shi and the Consortium as a whole, and Weil, Gotshal and Manges LLP is serving as U.S. legal counsel to Baring Private Equity Asia. O'Melveny & Myers LLP is the Company's U.S. counsel.

Third Quarter Fiscal 2013 Unaudited Financial Results 

• Net Revenue. Net revenue for the third quarter 2013 was RMB590.0 million (US$96.4 million), representing a 0.3% increase fromRMB588.1 million in the second quarter 2013, and a 8.6% increase from RMB543.2 million in the third quarter 2012.
• Non-GAAP Diluted earnings per shares was RMB1.50 ($0.25 ) vs. last years RMB1.41 ($0.24)

Ms. Wei Liu, Giant's Chief Executive Officer commented, "2013 has been a year of major strategic expansion for Giant. For MMOs, we launched World of Xianxia and the game has become a new success in addition to our ZT Online franchise. Our webgames were recently released to the market. Earlier this year, we formed new mobile game development teams and expect to launch two mobile games in the near future. While this strategic expansion has been underway during the last three quarters, our core business and financial results remained solid, marking 2013 a major turning point in expanding and diversifying our product road map. We are pleased to report another solid quarter and a strong market position, at a time when our strategic imperatives are underway and new initiatives are beginning to bear fruit. We have made great strides to grow our core business, diversify our game portfolio, and expand into new areas of higher growth, while preserving our industry-leading profitability."

"During the past quarter, we continued to update our best-in-class MMOs. The open beta testing of World of Xianxia has received positive user feedback, establishing the game as a successful new franchise and demonstrating our ability to develop hit games outside of our ZT Online series."

"We have begun rolling out a new wave of webgames, Supreme Tai-Chi and Genesis of the Empire. We began testing with some of our webgame platform partners and the initial results have exceeded our expectations. We expect these webgames to grow as we launch them on multiple platforms going forward, proving that Giant's innovative game design is not only applicable to client-based MMOs, but also to webgames. The webgame market in China remains on a steady growth track. We are confident that our upcoming elite webgames will enable Giant to gain meaningful market share."

"In mobile games, our game expansion and development are progressing impressively. We believe elite games will eventually dominate the Chinese mobile game market, giving an advantage to companies with strong R&D capabilities such as ourselves. Our confidence is based on years of game development experience, understanding of Chinese gamers, and expertise in publishing and marketing games. Our current mobile game pipeline consists of Kung Fu BBQ and ZT Online Mobile, among other projects. Kung Fu BBQ is slated to begin testing in the fourth quarter, while ZT Online Mobile will begin testing in the first quarter 2014. Our long-term game roadmap is robust, formulated to cement Giant as the leading developer and publisher of high quality games regardless of whether they are client-based games, webgames or mobile games."

"Giant is today the premier content provider in the online game market in China. Looking ahead into 2014, we have a robust MMO pipeline, webgames will begin contributing to our top line, and we will launch several mobile games. We will continue our collaboration with third-party platforms while exploring newer and more cost effective distribution channels. We will achieve these goals while maintaining our industry-leading profitability driven by prudent spending and continuously improving efficiency. In the mid-to-long-term, with the support of strong teams of developers led by our industry-known chief producers, and a diversified portfolio in the pipeline, we view our market position and financial outlook as brighter than ever. We will strive to keep up the growth momentum and seize the opportunities that will come to fruition."

Fourth Quarter 2013 Guidance � The Company expects total revenue for the fourth quarter 2013 to grow moderately as compared to the third quarter 2013.

Second Quarter 2013 Financial Results

• Net revenue was RMB588.1 million (US$95.8 million), up 2.7% QoQ and up 11.3% YoY.
• Gross profit was RMB517.0 million (US$84.2 million), up 5.4% QoQ and up 12.1% YoY. Gross profit margin for the second quarter 2013 was 87.9%.
• Net income attributable to the Company's shareholders was RMB367.6 million (US$59.9 million), up 12.7% QoQ and up 19.6% YoY. The margin of net income attributable to the Company's shareholders for the second quarter 2013 was 62.5%.
• Basic and diluted earnings per American Depositary Share ("ADS") which represents one ordinary share, were RMB1.53 (US$0.25) and RMB1.49 (US$0.24), respectively, compared to basic and diluted earnings per ADS of RMB1.36 and RMB1.32, respectively, for the first quarter 2013, and basic and diluted earnings per ADS of RMB1.30 and RMB1.26, respectively, for the second quarter 2012.
• Non-GAAP net income attributable to the Company's shareholders was RMB383.5 million (US$62.5 million), up 11.9% QoQ and up 13.0% YoY. The margin of non-GAAP net income attributable to the Company's shareholders was 65.2%.
• Basic and diluted non-GAAP earnings per ADS were RMB1.60 (US$0.26) and RMB1.55 (US$0.25), respectively, compared to basic and diluted non-GAAP earnings per ADS of RMB1.43 and RMB1.39, respectively, for the first quarter 2013, and basic and diluted non-GAAP earnings per ADS of RMB1.43 andRMB1.40, respectively, for the second quarter 2012.

Ms. Wei Liu, Giant's Chief Executive Officer commented, "We are proud to have successfully launched official closed beta testing for our newest flagship MMO, World of Xianxia, during the second quarter 2013. The game has attracted a sizable user base since its launch and has been contributing to our top line. Gamer feedback has been tremendously positive and we are confident that the game can reach new heights when we launch the open beta testing this fall."

"The successful commencement of official closed beta testing for World of Xianxia is a critical milestone in our overall MMO strategy, which remains as our core business and a key revenue contributor. As an innovator in online gameplay and monetization of the MMO segment in China, we are now in a better position to further grow this business and increase our market share as our peers have been increasingly focusing on other new growth areas with lower entry barriers such as webgames and mobile games. World of Xianxia exemplifies our plan to further diversify our product lines outside of the ZT Online franchise."

"We are also on track to strategically expand into new high growth areas such as webgames and mobile games. We plan to launch two webgames in the second half this year. In addition, we made good progress in our new mobile game development and plan to release our first in-house developed mobile game soon. We hope that these new games will start to contribute revenue in the fourth quarter this year and become a new milestone which leads to sustainable and diversified growth in the years to come."

"Alongside our self-developed titles, we are also pleased to announce that we recently entered into an agreement to be the exclusive publisher of Cang Tian 2 for mainland China. Cang Tian 2 is a free-to-play 3D Three Kingdoms MMORPG developed by WeMade in South Korea. We are currently working with the Korean developers to localize this game for the China market and hope to release it next year. Besides this great title, we continue to actively pursue other publishing opportunities to complement our self-developed portfolio."

"Lastly, to reiterate our commitment to return value to shareholders, we are announcing the first payment of our new semi-annual dividend program, which will be US$0.23 per ADS or ordinary share."

Third Quarter 2013 Guidance - The Company expects total revenue for the third quarter 2013 to be flat to moderately up as compared to the second quarter 20

SHANGHAI, June 6, 2013 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Giant Interactive Group Inc. (NYSE: GA) ("Giant" or the "Company"), one of China's leading online game developers and operators, announced today that Vogel Holding Group Limited ("Selling Shareholder"), an affiliate of Mr. Yuzhu Shi, the chairman of Giant, has agreed to sell 11,000,000 American depositary shares ("ADSs") at a price of $7.25 per ADS pursuant to a previously announced underwritten public offering. The selling shareholder has granted to underwriters in the offering, a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 1,650,000 of ADSs. Giant will not receive any of the proceeds from the sale of ADSs in this offering.

SHANGHAI, June 4, 2013 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Giant Interactive Group Inc. (NYSE: GA) ("Giant" or the "Company"), one ofChina's leading online game developers and operators, announced today that Vogel Holding Group Limited ("Selling Shareholder"), an affiliate of Mr. Yuzhu Shi , the chairman of Giant, had commenced an underwritten public offering of 15,137,853 American Depositary Shares, or ADSs, held by it.  The Selling Shareholder also intends to grant the underwriter an option to purchase up to an additional 2,270,678 ADSs solely to cover over-allotments.  Giant will not receive any proceeds from the sale of ADSs in the offering. Morgan Stanley & Co. International plc is acting as the sole bookrunner for the offering.

Giant has filed a shelf registration statement on Form F-3 (including a base prospectus) and a preliminary prospectus supplement with the SEC for the offering to which this communication relates. Before you invest, you should read the prospectus and the preliminary prospectus supplement and other documents Giant has filed with the SEC for more complete information about Giant and this offering. You may get these documents for free by visiting EDGAR on the SEC web site at www.sec.gov.

First Quarter 2013 Financial Results:

• Net revenue was RMB572.8 million (US$92.2 million), up 0.2% QoQ and up 12.6% YoY.
• Gross profit was RMB490.5 million (US$79.0 million), down 0.5% QoQ and up 11.2 % YoY. Gross profit margin for the first quarter 2013 was 85.6%.  
• Basic and diluted earnings per American Depositary Share ("ADS") which represents one ordinary share, were RMB1.36 (US$0.22) and RMB1.32 (US$0.21), respectively, compared to basic and diluted earnings per ADS of RMB0.35and RMB0.34, respectively, for the fourth quarter 2012, and basic and diluted earnings per ADS of RMB1.24 and RMB1.22, respectively, for the first quarter 2012.
• Non-GAAP net income attributable to the Company's shareholders was RMB342.7 million (US$55.2 million), down 2.1% QoQ and up 6.3% YoY. The margin of non-GAAP net income attributable to the Company's shareholders was 59.8%.
• Basic and diluted non-GAAP earnings per ADS were RMB1.43 (US$0.23) and RMB1.39 (US$0.22), respectively, compared to basic and diluted non-GAAP earnings per ADS of RMB1.47 and RMB1.43, respectively, for the fourth quarter 2012, and basic and diluted non-GAAP earnings per ADS of RMB1.37 andRMB1.34, respectively, for the first quarter 2012.

Please refer to the "Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures" section commencing on page 8, for a reconciliation between net income attributable to the Company's shareholders on a GAAP and non-GAAP basis.

Ms. Wei Liu, Giant's Chief Executive Officer commented, "We are thrilled with this solid start to 2013. Despite more gamers traveling during this Chinese New Year holiday than ever before and no new game launches in the first quarter, the strong performance from ZT Online 2 and its micro-client version helped sustain our solid top-line results. Our impressive bottom-line results also demonstrate our ability and commitment to constantly improve efficiency."

"2013 is positioned to be a year of excitement and transformation as we implement key strategic initiatives to strengthen our already formidable game development capability and further diversify our game portfolio. The recent appointment of Mr. Xuefeng Ji, previously the head of our R&D department, to serve as our new President reflected the Company's product-driven strategy. We now possess not only a talented pool of developers specializing in MMO game, webgame and mobile game development, but also have a growing team of chief game designers to lead projects. We believe this will allow us to deliver a steady stream of innovative and fun games going forward. We have built these impressive development and product teams with the goal of releasing one big title every year. We are at an exciting time in the history of the Company as we begin to rely less and less on individual titles and diversify our revenue through a variety of potential hit games."

"Over the last few years, we have successfully executed our focused strategy on elite titles and have solidified our position in the Chinese online game industry as an innovator, especially in monetization and gameplay in the MMO segment. As consolidation occurs in the industry and many of our peers now focus more on webgames or mobile games which require less financial resources and shorter development cycles, we are better positioned to continue growing our MMO business. While MMO games will remain our core business, we will apply our proven strategy to focus on elite titles to our webgame and mobile game development. We believe our fundamental strength and approach will gradually set us apart as a leader in these new market segments as well."

"I am also glad to report on some of our latest game updates including World of Xianxia, our newest MMO game, which began its official closed beta testing on April 19, 2013 and has achieved great results so far. Our first webgame, The Sky, is now gradually being rolled out and is receiving positive feedback. We are also planning to release at least one mobile game later this year. We expect these initiatives will carry our top line momentum throughout 2013. "

"Given the strong performance of our existing games and the implementation of our key strategic initiatives, together with our unique studio incentive structure and other operational systems in place, we are confident that we will continue to deliver results and give value back to our shareholders such as our regular semi-annual dividends."

SHANGHAI, September 19, 2012 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Giant Interactive Group Inc. (NYSE: GA) ("Giant" or "Company"), a leading Chinese online game developer and operator, today announced that its board of directors has recently approved a twelve-month extension for its previous share repurchase plan dated September 26, 2011 (the "Plan") which is set to expire at the end of September 2012. Upon such extension, Giant will continue to be authorized to repurchase up to the remaining balance of the US$50 million, its American Depositary Shares, or ADSs, over the next twelve months, from time to time, in open-market purchases on the NYSE Euronext at prevailing market prices, in trades pursuant to a Rule 10b5-1 repurchase plan, or otherwise, in accordance with applicable federal securities laws, including the anti-manipulation provisions of Rule 10b-18, promulgated under the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. The timing and extent of any purchases will depend upon market conditions, the trading price of Giant's ADSs and other factors, including customary restrictions on share repurchases. The repurchase program does not obligate Giant to make repurchases at any specific time or situation. As of the date of this press release, the Company has paid US$7,235,757.76 and repurchased 1,744,909 ADSs under this Plan.

Mr. Yuzhu Shi, Giant's chairman and chief executive officer said, "Given the impressive growth to date of our new flagship ZT Online 2 game, our solid pipeline of new games in various genres, high margins and health cash flows, and continuous opportunities in the Chinese and global online game market, we believe current share price levels do not fully reflect our recent performance and future growth prospects. We have always been committed to creating value for our shareholders by returning capital in the form of dividends, such as our US$3.00 per ADS special cash dividend paid in September 2011, and US$0.30 per ADS regular dividend paid in March and April 2012, and through implementing share repurchase programs from time to time if they are in the best interest of our shareholders. We believe these actions reflect our sound financial position, and will enhance shareholders' return as we aim to increase the value of our Company."

Second Quarter 2012 Highlights as Compared to First Quarter 2012

• Net revenue was RMB528.2 million (US$83.1 million), up 3.8% QoQ and up 21.1% YoY.
• Gross profit was RMB461.1 million (US$72.6 million), up 4.5% QoQ and up 23.7% YoY. Gross profit margin for the second quarter 2012 was 87.3%.
• Net income attributable to the Company's shareholders was RMB307.2 million (US$48.4 million), up 5.2% QoQ and up 2,920.6% YoY. The margin of net income attributable to the Company's shareholders for the second quarter 2012 was 58.2%.
• Basic and diluted earnings per American Depositary Share ("ADS"), each of which represents one ordinary share, were RMB1.30 (US$0.20) and RMB1.26 (US$0.20), respectively, compared to basic and diluted earnings per ADS of RMB1.24 and RMB1.22, respectively, for the first quarter 2012, and basic and diluted earnings per ADS of RMB0.04 and RMB0.04, respectively, for the second quarter 2011.
• Non-GAAP net income attributable to the Company's shareholders was RMB339.4 million (US$53.4 million), up 5.2% QoQ and up 23.6% YoY. The margin of non-GAAP net income attributable to the Company's shareholders was 64.3%.
• Basic and diluted non-GAAP earnings per ADS were RMB1.43 (US$0.23) and RMB1.40 (US$0.22), respectively, compared to basic and diluted non-GAAP earnings per ADS of RMB1.37 and RMB1.34, respectively, for the first quarter 2012, and basic and diluted non-GAAP earnings per ADS of RMB1.19 andRMB1.17, respectively, for the second quarter 2011.

"We are pleased to deliver another solid quarter, as we continue to perform well in our operating metrics, which is supported by the sustained strong performance of our second flagship game ZT Online 2. We are also pleased to see our profitability remain at a high level while we strengthen our commitment to R&D and sales and marketing, both of which are on pace with our new game launches," said Mr. Yuzhu Shi, Giant's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.

"We are delighted that we have made encouraging progress during the quarter in all aspects, and we expect to see sustained progress in the performance of ZT Online 2, a title which we believe will go from strength to strength following the launch of its first expansion pack and upcoming micro-client version, Qianjun Online, on the Qihoo 360 game platform."

"In addition to launching the micro-version of ZT Online 2, a number of much-anticipated launches will occur in the second half of the year, as follows:"

"Allods Online, licensed from Russia's Mail.Ru, will be our first western-themed massively multiplayer online role playing game ("MMORPG"). With beautiful 3D graphics and deep gameplay, we expect the game to help us grow and diversify our user base beginning in the third quarter. In addition, we also expect the game to help us continue to gain valuable experience in publishing foreign games, an area in which we believe will present growth opportunities for us in the future."

"World of Xianxia, our next internally-developed MMORPG and major strategic product, also features beautiful 3D graphics with a Chinese fantasy theme. To stay ahead of the competition, we have pioneered GvG ("group versus group") gameplay and revolutionized the social structure within this game, to create another groundbreaking MMORPG following ZT Online 2's blockbuster success. We very much look forward to the second round of engineering testing in the third quarter and launch of this game in the fourth quarter, and we believe that it will further solidify our dominance in the MMORPG segment."

"The development of webgames is one of our strategic priorities. We see ample opportunities present in the fast growing webgame market in China, which we believe will not only bring a new source of revenue, but will also broaden our reach to overseas markets. Our webgame design teams are now fully underway and functional. While our development teams are focusing on designing new webgames, our operations and business development teams are actively seeking domestic and foreign partners to publish our webgames. We believe that such a two-pronged structure will enable us to maximize our ability to capture new growth opportunities in today's rapidly evolving online game market domestically and internationally. We expect to launch 3 webgames in the second half of this year. We also expect to cooperate with major online platforms in the future and leverage their large user bases to market our games and extend our reach to new players."

"We remain focused on diversifying and deepening our game development pipeline, which we believe will help us diversify beyond our existing users and provide continuous growth for the last quarter of this year and into 2013, as we rely less and less on our legacy games. We are confident that our innovative, high-quality games, our talented design teams, and our low cost structure will keep Giant at the forefront of the dynamic online game industry."

Third Quarter 2012 Guidance --We expect sequential growth to be flat to moderate in the third quarter.

First Quarter 2012 as Compared to Fourth Quarter 2011 Highlights:

• Net revenue was RMB508.8 million (US$80.8 million), up 2.8% QoQ and up 26.2% YoY.
• Gross profit was RMB441.2 million (US$70.1 million), up 3.3% QoQ and up 29.6% YoY. Gross profit margin for the first quarter 2012 was 86.7%.
• Net income attributable to the Company's shareholders was RMB292.2 million (US$46.4 million), up 18.5% QoQ and up 11.5% YoY. The margin of net income attributable to the Company's shareholders for the first quarter 2012 was 57.4%.
• Basic and diluted earnings per American Depositary Share ("ADS") or one ordinary share were RMB1.24(US$0.20) and RMB1.22 (US$0.19), respectively, compared to basic and diluted earnings per ADS ofRMB1.05 and RMB1.05, respectively, for the fourth quarter 2011, and basic and diluted earnings per ADS ofRMB1.15 and RMB1.12, respectively, for the first quarter 2011.
• Non-GAAP net income attributable to the Company's shareholders was RMB322.5 million (US$51.2 million), up 25.2% QoQ and up 19.8% YoY. The margin of non-GAAP net income attributable to the Company's shareholders was 63.4%.
• Basic and diluted non-GAAP earnings per ADS were RMB1.37 (US$0.22) and RMB1.34 (US$0.21), respectively, compared to basic and diluted non-GAAP earnings per ADS of RMB1.09 and RMB1.09, respectively, for the fourth quarter 2011, and basic and diluted non-GAAP earnings per ADS of RMB1.18 andRMB1.15, respectively, for the first quarter 2011.
• Active Paying Accounts ("APA") for online games was 2,184,000, up 0.8% QoQ and up 22.8% YoY.
• Average Revenue Per User ("ARPU") for online games was RMB228, up 3.1% QoQ and up 5.6% YoY.
• Average Concurrent Users ("ACU") for online games was 681,000, up 2.1% QoQ and up 16.2% YoY.
• Peak Concurrent Users ("PCU") for online games was 2,288,000, down 2.2% QoQ and up 19.4% YoY.

Mr. Yuzhu Shi, Giant's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer commented, "We are pleased to report solid financial and operational results for the first quarter 2012, supported by the continued success of our second flagship game ZT Online 2. While we did not launch any major marketing initiatives or expansion packs for ZT Online 2 in the first quarter, the strong underlying interest in the game helped to drive incremental growth in our key performance metrics and financial results. Having reached a new record PCU of over 541,000 in April following the launch of its first expansion pack, ZT Online 2 has truly reached blockbuster status. We will continue to cultivate the game's broad and engaged user base, and expect to see further increases in number of players following the launch of the first expansion pack. We are confident that ZT Online 2 will contribute to steady top line revenue growth throughout 2012 and be one of our core products for many years to come.

"We have also made continued progress on our game development pipeline, supported by the recent reorganization of our game development studios. The new revenue sharing program that was effectuated in the second half of 2011 has led to increasing productivity and our development teams are working hard on our pipeline of new MMO and web games in addition to our first-person-shooter game. We remain focused on our strategy to bring innovative and fun-to-play games in an expanding range of genres to market, and are on track to achieve additional value-driving milestones in the second half of the year."

SHANGHAI, April 23, 2012 /PRNewswire-Asia-FirstCall/ -- Giant Interactive Group Inc. (NYSE: GA) ("Giant" or "Company"), a leading Chinese online game developer and operator, today announced that peak concurrent users ("PCU") for ZT Online 2, the Company's second flagship game, reached over 541,000 on April 22, 2012.

Mr. Xuefeng Ji, Giant's senior vice president of research and development and the producer of ZT Online 2 commented, "Our development team is proud to see such a high level of gamer interest in ZT Online 2. The recently released first expansion pack contained both cross-shard hardcore additions as well as social features to attract new users into the game, a goal which we clearly achieved given the new PCU record. We look forward to seeing continued growth by providing new content on an ongoing basis in the future."

Mr. Yuzhu Shi, Giant's chairman and chief executive officer commented, "We are very excited to see ZT Online 2 continuing to ramp up to 541,000 PCU. This new milestone cements ZT Online 2 as a great success both in our portfolio and from an industry-wide perspective. We will continue to focus on innovative game development to further expand our user base and expect ZT Online 2 to continue to spearhead our growth over the near term."

Fourth Quarter 2011 Highlights:

• Net revenue was RMB494.8 million (US$78.6 million), an increase of 8.1% from the third quarter 2011 and an increase of 34.4% from the fourth quarter 2010.
• Gross profit was RMB427.1 million (US$67.9 million), an increase of 8.3% from the third quarter 2011 and an increase of 37.3% from the fourth quarter 2010. Gross profit margin for the fourth quarter 2011 was 86.3%.
• Net income attributable to the Company's shareholders was RMB246.4 million (US$39.2 million), a decrease of 31.8% from the third quarter 2011 and an increase of 6.6% from the fourth quarter 2010. Net income attributable to the Company's shareholders as a percentage of net revenue for the fourth quarter 2011 was 49.8%.
• Basic and diluted earnings per American Depositary Share ("ADS") or one ordinary share were RMB1.05(US$0.17) and RMB1.05 (US$0.17), respectively, compared to basic and diluted earnings per ADS ofRMB1.54 and RMB1.53, respectively, for the third quarter 2011, and basic and diluted earnings per ADS ofRMB1.02 and RMB0.99, respectively, for the fourth quarter 2010.
• Non-GAAP net income attributable to the Company's shareholders was RMB257.7 million (US$40.9 million), a decrease of 9.6% from the third quarter 2011 and an increase of 7.0% from the fourth quarter 2010. Non-GAAP net income attributable to the Company's shareholders as a percentage of net revenue was 52.1%.
• Basic and diluted non-GAAP earnings per ADS were RMB1.09 (US$0.17) and RMB1.09 (US$0.17), respectively, compared to basic and diluted non-GAAP earnings per ADS of RMB1.22 and RMB1.21, respectively, for the third quarter 2011, and basic and diluted non-GAAP earnings per ADS of RMB1.06 andRMB1.03, respectively, for the fourth quarter 2010.
• Active Paying Accounts ("APA") for online games was 2,167,000, an increase of 3.9% from the third quarter 2011 and an increase of 28% from the fourth quarter 2010.
• Average Revenue Per User ("ARPU") for online games was RMB221, an increase of 1.8% from the third quarter 2011 and an increase of 2.8% from the fourth quarter 2010.
• Average Concurrent Users ("ACU") for online games was 667,000, an increase of 0.9% from the third quarter 2011 and an increase of 14.3% from the fourth quarter 2010.
• Peak Concurrent Users ("PCU") for online games was 2,339,000, an increase of 1.8% from the third quarter 2011 and an increase of 36.5% from the fourth quarter 2010.

"2011 was the most exciting year in the history of our company. We made a stunning comeback by delivering eight quarters of consistent growth and achieved over 34% annual revenue growth, thanks to our new blockbuster game ZT Online 2," said Mr. Yuzhu Shi, Giant's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "While continuing to capitalize on our core competence in MMORPGs, we are aggressively expanding into new game segments such as webgames to capture new growth opportunities. Our strategy is not just to produce webgames but to produce the highest quality webgames by recruiting and retaining top talents and offering them ample opportunities to maximize their potential. As recently announced, we have recruited a senior industry expert to head our webgame development team. We strongly believe that we are well-positioned and ready to create a blockbuster webgame in the near future given our years of experience in developing and operating MMO games, our deep understanding of webgame characteristics and user preferences, and our progress made in webgame graphics and technology. Additionally, since the beginning of last year, we began to explore growth opportunities in the mobile game sector. We envision a cross platform strategy to enable our users to play our games on PC, web, tablets and mobile phones. However, regardless of the game genres, segments and diverse game platforms, our ultimate goal is to produce innovative, fun and long lasting games that will attract a wide range of gamers. This is our core strength and we believe in ourselves.

"Looking into 2012, we are extremely excited about our solid and diversified game pipeline including MMO games reflecting the latest trends and user preferences, half a dozen webgames with rich content, and our highly anticipated domestically-developed first-person shooter (FPS) game.

"We have commenced 2012 with sound financial and operating metrics, a fast growing hit game in ZT Online 2and an expanding product portfolio. In light of the healthy financial position and a strong balance sheet, our Board of Directors has declared a cash dividend of US$0.30 per ordinary share or ADS, which amounts to a total payment of approximately US$70.6 million. We believe this reiterates our commitment to maximizing shareholder returns and confidence in our business outlook. In addition to returning value to our shareholders, we will continue to seek investment opportunities to further diversify our product portfolio and expand our overseas business."

Business Highlights and Outlook

ZT Online 1 Series - During the fourth quarter 2011, Giant rolled out a brand new ZT Online expansion pack to introduce a new in-game profession along with several customized in-game activities. The new expansion pack was well received by existing players and attracted many former players back to the game. For ZT Online Classic Edition, Giant introduced a selection of new gameplays emphasizing collaboration among guild members in its latest expansion pack. And for ZT Online Green Edition, Giant released a new expansion pack in the fourth quarter 2011 which gained a great amount of attention and positive feedback from gamers.

Third Quarter 2011 Results

• Net revenue for the third quarter 2011 was RMB457.9 million (US$71.8 million), representing a 5.0% increase from RMB436.2 million in the second quarter 2011 and a 35.2% increase from RMB338.7 million in the third quarter 2010.
• Net income attributable to the Company's shareholders for the third quarter 2011 was RMB361.3 million (US$56.6 million), an increase of 3,452.1% from RMB10.2 million in the second quarter 2011 and an increase of 73.1% from RMB208.7 million in the third quarter 2010.

Mr. Yuzhu Shi, Giant's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer commented, "We are pleased to report another quarter of continued top- and bottom-line growth. The strong performance of our core online games was highlighted by our new flagship game ZT Online 2 which launched open beta testing in September and reached a new high of over 435,000 PCU. This achievement, along with the game's consistent growth throughout 2011, demonstrates the strength of our internal game development capabilities in an increasingly competitive environment. The Chinese online game industry continues to grow, and our core competency, hardcore MMORPGs, remains the most profitable genre of games. While capitalizing on these industry-wide growth trends, we also continue to diversify our product portfolio. During the fourth quarter 2011, we plan to introduce our first action casual game, Elsword, which was licensed from South Korea. In addition to MMOPRGs, we have also initiated additional internal web game projects and are preparing our self-developed first-person-shooter game. We will continue to focus on making innovative and fun games, and we believe these new projects will help further diversify our user base going forward.

"People are the life of our company and we have been doing an excellent job in retaining our key employees since the inception of the company. In an effort to continue to attract and retain our key employees and particularly the best R&D talents, our board of directors has approved the issuance of additional restricted shares and the repricing of the existing options due to the recent decrease in the Company's share price following our special cash dividend."

Mr. Shi continued, "After the payment of the US$3 per share special cash dividend, we still have approximately US$300 million in cash on our balance sheet as of September 30, 2011, providing us with significant flexibility to finance our daily operations and to fund potential future investments. We will continue to look for investment opportunities in the Chinese online game industry that complement our existing products and services, such as developers of web, social, and mobile games, as well as opportunities in overseas online game markets. With our strong and growing online game business, high profitability and healthy cash flows, we are confident about our future prospects."

Fourth Quarter 2011 Guidance — For the fourth quarter 2011, the Company expects ZT Online 2 to continue to grow following its open beta testing at the end of the third quarter. As a result, the Company expects continued top-line growth in the fourth quarter 2011.

First Quarter 2011 Highlights:

• Net revenue was RMB403.3 million (US$61.6 million), an increase of 9.6% from the fourth quarter 2010 and an increase of 32.5% from the first quarter 2010.
• Gross profit was RMB340.4 million (US$52.0 million), an increase of 9.4% from the fourth quarter 2010 and an increase of 31.3% from the first quarter 2010. Gross profit margin for the first quarter 2011 was 84.4%.
• Net income attributable to the Company's shareholders was RMB262.1 million (US$40.0 million), an increase of 13.3% from the fourth quarter 2010 and an increase of 41.5% from the first quarter 2010. The margin of net income attributable to the Company's shareholders for the first quarter 2011 was 65.0%.
• Basic and diluted earnings per American Depositary Share ("ADS") or one ordinary share were RMB1.15 (US$0.18) and RMB1.12 (US$0.17), respectively, compared to basic and diluted earnings per ADS of RMB1.02 and RMB0.99, respectively, for the fourth quarter 2010, and basic and diluted earnings per ADS of RMB0.82 and RMB0.79, respectively, for the first quarter 2010.
• Non-GAAP net income attributable to the Company's shareholders excluding non-cash share-based compensation was RMB269.2 million (US$41.1 million), an increase of 11.8% from the fourth quarter 2010 and an increase of 41.9% from the first quarter 2010. The margin of non-GAAP net income attributable to the Company's shareholders excluding non-cash share-based compensation was 66.8%.
• Basic and diluted non-GAAP earnings excluding non-cash share-based compensation per ADS were RMB1.18 (US$0.18) and RMB1.15 (US$0.18), respectively, compared to basic and diluted non-GAAP earnings per ADS of RMB1.06 and RMB1.03 (US$0.12), respectively, for the fourth quarter 2010, and basic and diluted non-GAAP earnings per ADS of RMB0.84 and RMB0.81, respectively, for the first quarter 2010.

Mr. Yuzhu Shi, Giant's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer commented, "We are pleased to report strong top- and bottom-line growth on a sequential and year-over-year basis for the first quarter. We delivered a healthy increase in online game revenue, demonstrating the continued successful execution of our game segmentation strategy and steady growth in our ZT Online Series of games. Meanwhile, ZT Online 2 continued to grow and perform well, and we are especially pleased with the positive response to this new game. ZT Online 2 began official closed beta testing in the second quarter and recently achieved 300,000 peak concurrent users, with encouraging indications of an upward trend and further potential of the game. Our results also benefited from a significant non-recurring increase in other revenue relating to the development and delivery of a first-person shooter game, which demonstrates the capability of our development team to develop varying genres of games. The success to date of ZT Online 2, coupled with the continued progress on our self-developed and licensed pipeline games, provide us with additional potential to drive value in the year ahead.

"While we continue to invest in the development of our game pipeline and seek overseas licensing opportunities, we have maintained a strict focus on cost controls, which has directly benefited our bottom-line. Supported by the growing popularity of ZT Online 2 and continued execution on the development front, we expect our positive momentum to continue throughout the second quarter of 2011."

Second Quarter 2011 Guidance - The Company expects the impact from the non-recurring gains during the first quarter 2011 to diminish in the second quarter 2011. However, given the marketing campaigns for the official closed beta testing for ZT Online 2 that began in April 2011, the Company expects ZT Online 2's revenue and user base to continue to grow. Therefore, the Company expects revenues from online games to accelerate and contribute to continued top-line growth in the second quarter 2011.

Fourth Quarter Highlights

• Net revenue was RMB368.1 million (US$55.8 million), an increase of 8.7% from the third quarter 2010 and an increase of 33.4% from the fourth quarter 2009.
• Gross profit was RMB311.2 million (US$47.1 million), an increase of 7.9% from the third quarter 2010 and an increase of 34.4% from the fourth quarter 2009. Gross profit margin for the fourth quarter 2010 was 84.5%.
• Basic and diluted non-GAAP earnings excluding non-cash share-based compensation per ADS were RMB1.06 (US$0.16) and RMB1.03 (US$0.16), respectively, compared to basic and diluted non-GAAP earnings per ADS of RMB0.97 and RMB0.95, respectively, for the third quarter 2010, and basic and diluted non-GAAP earnings per ADS of RMB0.90 and RMB0.87, respectively, for the fourth quarter 2009.

Mr. Yuzhu Shi, Giant's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer commented, "In the final quarter of 2010 we continued to build upon our trend of both top- and bottom-line expansion, with our strong performance supported by ongoing growth in our ZT Online Series of games. Looking back at 2010, we made marked progress on both our ZT Online segmentation strategy and portfolio diversification initiative, and we are now well positioned to continue building momentum as we head into the new year. We are actively investing in our future growth, both through the localization of our licensed games such as Elsword and Allods Online, and through the development of new internally developed games that we plan to launch in 2011. As our legacy games continue to attract a growing base of paying players and as ZT Online 2 and other new games come online in the months ahead, we are bullish about our growth prospects in 2011.

For the first quarter 2011, the Company expects the ZT Online Series of games to continue building on the positive momentum experienced in 2010, with ZT Online 2 gaining increased traction. As a result, the Company expects continued sequential top-line growth in the first quarter 2011.

Third Quarter 2010 Highlights:

• Net revenue was RMB338.7 million (US$50.6 million), an increase of 5.3% from the second quarter 2010 and an increase of 16.7% from the third quarter 2009.  

• Gross profit wasRMB288.5 million (US$43.1 million), an increase of 5.0% from the second quarter 2010 and an increase of 17.9% from the third quarter 2009. Gross profit margin for the third quarter 2010 was 85.2%.

• Net income attributable to the Company's shareholders was RMB208.7 million (US$31.2   million), an increase of 12.2% from the second quarter 2010 and an increase of 5.6% from the third quarter 2009. The margin of net income attributable to the Company's shareholders for the third quarter 2010 was 61.6%.

• Basic and diluted earnings per American Depositary Share ("ADS") or one ordinary share were RMB0.92(US$0.14) and RMB0.89(US$0.13), respectively, compared to basic and diluted earnings per ADS of RMB0.82 and RMB0.79, respectively, for the second quarter 2010, and basic and diluted earnings per ADS ofRMB0.87 and RMB0.84, respectively, for the third quarter 2009.

• Non-GAAP net income attributable to the Company's shareholders excluding non-cash share-based compensation was RMB220.9 million (US$33.0 million), an increase of 14.4% from the second quarter 2010 and an increase of 7.5% from the third quarter 2009. The margin of non-GAAP net income attributable to the Company's shareholders excluding non-cash share-based compensation was 65.2%.

• Basic and diluted non-GAAP earnings excluding non-cash share-based compensation per ADS were RMB0.97(US$0.15) and RMB0.95(US$0.14), respectively, compared to basic and diluted non-GAAP earnings per ADS ofRMB0.85 and RMB0.82, respectively, for the second quarter 2010, and basic and diluted non-GAAP earnings per ADS of RMB0.91 and RMB0.88, respectively, for the third quarter 2009.

Fourth Quarter 2010 Guidance -- For the fourth quarter 2010, the Company expects the ZT Online Series of games and other games in our product portfolio to carry on the positive momentum experienced thus far in 2010.  As a result, the Company expects continued top-line growth in the fourth quarter 2010.

Second Quarter Fiscal 2010 Unaudited Financial Results:

• Net revenue for the second quarter 2010 was RMB321.7 million (US$47.4 million), representing a 5.7% increase from RMB304.4 million in the first quarter 2010 and an 11.7% decrease from RMB364.1 million in the second quarter 2009.
  
• Non-GAAP EPS was $0.12 vs $0.12.

Third Quarter 2010 Guidance -- For the third quarter 2010, the Company expects the ZT Online series of games and other games in our product portfolio to carry on the positive momentum experienced thus far in 2010. As a result, the Company expects continued top-line growth in the third quarter 2010

^a Using an exchange rate of 1 RMB = .146410 USD as of August 28, 2009.

 Source: See Release, August 18, 2009

Guidance Update:

Commenting on the first quarter 2009 results, Mr. Yuzhu Shi, Giant's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, said, 'Despite economic headwinds, we began 2009 on sound footing, with our results in-line with guidance. On a sequential basis, both revenue and gross profit showed improvement as gamers continued to adapt to the monetization structure and the enhanced features of our flagship game ZT Online. I believe the changes we have implemented provide us with a more balanced revenue model to extend the lifecycle of ZT Online. So far in the first two quarters of 2009, we focused most of our efforts on product development, rather than on sales and marketing campaigns. As a result, we plan to launch the largest expansion pack to date for ZT Online in July 2009.'

^a Using an exchange rate of 1 RMB = .146257 USD as of June 21, 2009.

 Source: See Release

Guidance Report:

'While we cannot predict the length or severity of the current economic downturn, we believe the online game industry in China remains resilient and is poised to continue its favorable growth trend. As a result, we continue to devote significant resources to R&D, which we believe is the best strategy to ensure the development of exciting new blockbuster games. We are confident that our current initiatives, strategy and healthy financial footing position us for long-term success. As such, our Board of Directors has approved a dividend, which demonstrates our confidence and our commitment to maximizing returns for our shareholders.'

 First Quarter Fiscal 2009 Guidance Ending March

*Using an exchange rate of 1.00 RMB = 0.146199 USD as of March 8, 2009.

Source: PR Newswire (March 4, 2009)