JD.com’s quarterly profit beats estimates on online sales boom

BENGALURU: Chinese e-commerce company JD.com Inc posted a better-than-expected quarterly profit today as online sales remained strong even after coronavirus-led restrictions were lifted in the world's second-largest economy.

The Beijing-based company, which recorded growth across a wide range of product lines, joined competitors Pinduoduo and Alibaba Group in racking up double-digit growth as China's economy recovers from Covid-19 damage.

JD.com chief executive officer Richard Liu said its business partners are recovering rapidly as well.

Last month, data showed that China's retail sales edged up 3.3% in September from a year earlier, beating analysts' forecast for a 1.8% growth.

Sales in JD.com's product segment, which includes online retail sales, rose 27% to 151.4 billion yuan ($22.99 billion) in the quarter.

JD.com's net revenue rose 29% to 174.21 billion yuan in the third quarter ended Sept. 30. Analysts had expected revenue of 170.2 billion yuan, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.

Excluding items, JD.com earned 3.42 yuan per American depository share (ADS) while analysts had expected a profit of 2.65 yuan per ADS.

In another development, a JD.com executive said that the company "completely supports" anti-monopolistic regulations proposed by Chinese regulators last week.

Last week, China's State Administration for Market Regulation published draft rules aimed at preventing monopolistic behaviour by internet platforms, a move that will increase scrutiny on e-commerce marketplaces and payment services.

The definitions it provided for internet platforms mean the new rules could apply to e-commerce sites such as Alibaba Group's Taobao and Tmall marketplaces or JD.com and payment services like Ant Group's Alipay or Tencent Holding's WeChat Pay. Food delivery platforms like Meituan could also be included. – Reuters