Beijing – Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com announced
accelerated third-quarter growth on Thursday, a positive sign for the firm as
it grapples with lacklustre consumer spending and tough competition with its
main competitor, Alibaba.
Total revenue during the three-month period ended September 30 was 260.4
billion yuan (36 billion dollars), up 5.1 percent year-on-year, a filing at the Hong
Kong Stock Exchange showed.
Revenue growth picked up from the slower 1.7 percent expansion recorded in
the same period last year.
The latest quarter also saw JD.com record surging net income of 11.7
billion yuan (1.6 billion dollars), up 47.8 percent year-on-year, the filing showed.
“We saw an uptick in our topline growth, as well as healthy profitability
in the third quarter, as overall consumer sentiment continued to brighten,”
Chief Executive Officer Sandy Xu said in the statement.
Consumer spending in China has not fully recovered since the end of the
pandemic, presenting a hurdle for JD.com and its e-commerce sector peers.
The firm’s latest results — as well as Alibaba’s expected third-quarter
filing on Friday — are being closely scrutinised by analysts and investors
for signs that recent measures taken by the government to boost activity are
having an impact.
Beijing-based JD.com is a top player in China’s vast e-commerce sector,
where it is engaged in a prolonged battle for market share with archrival
Alibaba.
Both firms announced strong performances in the annual “Singles Day”
shopping bonanza that ended earlier this week, though they stopped short of
publishing detailed sales totals.(AFP)