Meituan posts 77 per cent quarterly revenue growth despite concerns over antitrust investigation
- China’s largest food delivery and on-demand local services provider posted market-beating second-quarter revenue of US$6.8 billion
- The company incurred a net loss of US$525 million, as its new initiatives and others segment continued to rack up losses
Beijing-based Meituan posted revenue of 43.8 billion yuan (US$6.8 billion) in the quarter ended June, up from 24.7 billion yuan a year ago, on the back of stellar growth at its food delivery business. That beat the 42 billion yuan consensus estimate from a Bloomberg poll of market analysts.
The company incurred a net loss of 3.4 billion yuan, compared with a 2.2 billion yuan profit a year earlier, as its business segment called new initiatives and others, which includes group buying, continued to rack up losses. This segment recorded a wider loss of 9.2 billion yuan, compared with 1.5 billion yuan a year ago, because of continued heavy investment.
Meituan’s share price closed up 1.5 per cent to HK$228 (US$29.27) on Monday in Hong Kong, down from a peak of HK$460 in mid-February, as the stock continues to be dragged down by the government’s antitrust investigation and regulatory uncertainties brought by tighter scrutiny on the internet sector.