Chinese Internet portal Sohu.com Inc will resume delivering multimedia messaging services (MMS) Monday, a month before a one-year suspension was scheduled to be lifted.

Sohu doesn't expect the move to affect its third-quarter earnings guidance, which was issued Wednesday.

In a press release Friday, Sohu said China Mobile Communication Corp, the country's largest mobile carrier, informed the company it decided to resume multimedia messaging cooperation on its nationwide network Monday. China Mobile had suspended the services for a year because of unsolicited marketing by Sohu to some customers.

Sohu said it transferred its multimedia messaging services business onto China Mobile's mobile information service center platform in June, so it is "technically ready" to resume the MMS business.

Because it will need to rebuild the business after 11 months of suspension, Sohu doesn't expect the service resumption to materially affect its third-quarter outlook.

Earlier last week, Sohu reported its second-quarter profit fell 28 percent, to US$7.1 million, or 18 US cents a share, and said third-quarter results would be weaker than expected, largely because of disappointing advertising revenue growth.

The company projects third-quarter earnings of 18 US cents to 22 US cents a share, on revenue of US$26.5 million to US$28.5 million. Analysts surveyed by Thomson First Call, on average, estimate earnings of 22 cents a share, on revenue of US$28.75 million.

Sohu said Friday it would leverage its resources to rebuild the multimedia messaging services business and would cooperate with online and wireless partner Walt Disney Co.

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