Consumer Staples Author：Yue Liu Editor：Luke Sheehan Aug 21, 2020 05:49 PM (GMT+8)

“The epidemic has accelerated the digitalization process in all industries and will continue to increase investment in new initiatives such as fresh food and ride-hailing,” said Wang Xing, the CEO of Meituan.

Image credit: jianshu.com

Meituan-Dianping has published its latest financial report. In the second quarter of 2020, revenue was CNY 24.72 billion, a year-on-year increase of 8.9%. Net profit was CNY 2.21 billion, a year-on-year increase of 152.40%.

The food delivery business recorded revenue of CNY 14.54 billion, an increase of 13.20% year-on-year.  GMV increased 16.90% year-on-year to CNY 108.80 billion. The average daily number of food delivery transactions increased by 6.90% year-on-year. The take rate of this business decreased from 13.8% in the same period in 2019 to 13.4%. Operating profit turned positive to CNY 1.30 billion in the second quarter of 2020, while the company underwent a loss of CNY 71 million in the first quarter of 2020.

The in-store and hotel & travel business was CNY 4.54 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 13.40%. To help merchants to rise above difficulties, Meituan continued to cooperate with local governments. In the second quarter, high-star hotel orders accounted for more than 15% of the total, an increase of 3% year-on-year.

New initiatives in business revenues were CNY 5.63 billion, an increase of 22.1% year-on-year. Meituan Maicai, which adopted the self-operated model, developed rapidly and achieved nearly four times previous revenue. For the ride-hailing business, in the second quarter, Meituan launched approximately 1.50 million new bicycles and invested in nearly 300,000 motorcycles.

During the epidemic, Meituan actively assisted the digital transformation of merchants and accelerated the post-epidemic recovery. The number of merchants on the platform rose to 6.30 million in the second quarter. The number of annual transaction users increased by 8.2% year-on-year to 460 million. In the first half of 2020, the number of riders earning income from the Meituan platform reached 2.95 million, of which 1.39 million were newly employed riders.