Weibo Corp., the online messaging subsidiary of Chinese internet firm Sina Corp., trimmed its losses in the second quarter after advertising revenues sharply rose as more users signed up for the service.

Weibo's second quarter losses fell to $15.4 million from $35 million the previous year, the company said in a statement. The improved performance was helped by the boom in sales, which more than doubled to $77.3 million and higher than the company's forecast.

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For the third quarter, Weibo forecasted revenues to reach between $79 million and $82 million, higher than its $53.4 million haul last year. Bloomberg reported that this is in line with the $78.9 million average projected by four analyst estimates it interviewed.

The Beijing-based company reported that actively daily users jumped by 32% from a year ago. Weibo, described as China's Twitter, said daily active users have reached 69.7 million at the end of June.

Although Twitter is not allowed in China, Weibo is getting increased competition from Tencent Holdings' WeChat messaging application, reported Bloomberg. Weibo Chief Executive Officer Wang Gaofei has invested in marketing and product development in response, with expenditures for these almost doubling to $59.6 million during the period.

The company attributed the improved performance to efforts to engage users by integrating Weibo with TV shows and other live events.

"I'm happy that we were able to deliver strong financial results for the first quarter after Weibo's IPO. In May 2014, we launched our native ad products to brand advertising customers and began to implement our payment solutions to drive social commerce on Weibo. With these initiatives we are laying solid groundwork for our future growth," Wang said in a statement.

Weibo raised $286 million in its initial public offering in April. Sina owns 54% Weibo, while the Alibaba Group holds 30%.

Weibo's share prices inched up by 5.6% to close at $21.46 in New York yesterday, before the results were announced. The stock has climbed up by more than a quarter since its market debut, Bloomberg said.

TagsTencent Holdings