China’s Meituan reports third straight quarterly loss By Reuters

BEIJING (Reuters) -Chinese food delivery giant Meituan posted a third consecutive quarterly loss on Monday as it continues to invest in expanding its various businesses.

Meituan, China’s eighth largest company by market value, reported a 2.21 billion yuan ($341.8 million) loss in the April-June period versus a profit of 2.72 billion yuan a year earlier.

Tencent-backed Meituan, whose services also include hotel booking, restaurant reviewing, and bike sharing, said total revenue rose 77% in the period from a year earlier to 43.76 billion yuan.That compared with a 42.32 billion yuan average of 15 analyst estimates compiled by Refinitiv. Revenue in Meituan’s core food delivery business rose 59% year-over-year to 23.13 billion yuan. New initiatives, including its community group-buying service Meituan Select, saw revenue growth of 113.6% to 12.03 billion yuan.

The Beijing-based company has been in regulatory crosshairs, part of China’s crackdown on the country’s sprawling internet platform economy.

China’s State Administration of Market Regulation (SAMR) launched an antitrust probe into the company in April, focussing on a practice where a company forces vendors to use its platform exclusively.

Meituan said in its earnings report that the investigation is ongoing and it is actively cooperating with the regulator, adding that it could be required to “make changes to its business practices and/or be subject to a significant amount of fines”.

($1 = 6.4656 renminbi)