// JD.com reports 22.4% increase in quarterly sales
// It invested in offline retail, finance and logistics services to expand outside of ecommerce
// Shares increased by 24% this year
JD.com has reported a 22.4 per cent increase in quarterly sales, surpassing sales expectations and advancing its US shares by 13.8 per cent in pre-market trade.
However, the results still serve as the Chinese online retailer’s slowest quarterly revenue growth since 2015, thanks to China’s economy slowdown.
JD.com recently invested in offline retail, finance and logistics services to expand outside its ecommerce business.
During the fourth quarter, JD.com reported high sales which it attributed to promotions for Single’s Day, which sends Chinese shoppers in an online shopping frenzy around November 11.
Meanwhile, sales increased to 159.8 billion yuan (£17.9 billion), which is a total increase of 26 per cent compared to the previous year.
The temporary arrest of JD.com’s chief executive Richard Liu consequently sent stock down in 2018, while sales growth slowed down.
However, the company reported shares increased by 24 per cent this year.
Sales of smartphones and appliances have slowed down in Chinese ecommerce companies, according to analysts and executives, and this has slowed down the sales growth for JD.com and rival Alibaba.
JD.com chief financial officer Sydney Huang told analysts on Thursday: “Electronics appliances were impacted in the fourth quarter, at this point it’s tough to tell, but we are cautiously optimistic for the second half of this year.”
Moreover, the company’s luxury ecommerce business Toplife will merge with the China unit of London-based fashion ecommerce business Farfetch.
The deal is believed to expand JD.com’s luxury offerings as it faces off with rival Alibaba.
Meanwhile, JD.com is expecting its quarterly revenue for March to be between 118 billion yuan (£13.2 billion) and 122 billion yuan (£13.7 billion).
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