In the first quarter of 2023, Meituan continued to further promote its "Retail + Technology" strategy to increase its investment in China's consumer market, with R&D spending increasing to CNY 5 billion.
Meituan (Chinese: 美团, Stock Code: 3690), headquartered in Beijing, recently announced the unaudited consolidated results of the Company for the three months ended March 31, 2023.
During the first quarter of 2023, Meituan achieved revenue of CNY 58.62 billion (USD 8.31 billion), up 26.7% year-on-year, and net profit of CNY 3.36 billion, with a profit margin of 5.7% for the period.
In terms of core local commerce business, it achieved a steady growth, with revenue reaching CNY 42.9 billion, up 25.5% over the previous year. Specifically, revenue from delivery services was CNY 16.91 billion, up 18.8% year-on-year; revenue from commission was CNY 15.82 billion, an increase of 32.4% from the same period last year; online marketing services revenue was CNY 7.75 billion, 10.6% higher than in the previous year; revenue from other services and sales (including interest revenue) was CNY 2.42 billion, up 143.6% year-on-year.
In terms of new initiatives segment (Meituan Select, Meituan Grocery, B2B food distribution, ride sharing, bike sharing, e-moped sharing, power banks, etc), its revenue increased 30.1% year-over-year to CNY 15.7 billion in Q1 2023 as the efficiency of its merchandise retail business improved significantly.
Founded in 2010, Meituan is a leading global technology retail company with a strategic model of "Retail + Technology" and the two main business segments include Core Local Commerce and New Initiatives. The Company currently owns several household brands in China, including Meituan, China's leading online marketplace for services, Dianping, China's leading online destination for discovering local services, Meituan Waimai for on-demand delivery services, and Meituan Bikes for bike-sharing services. The Company operates in over 2,800 cities and counties in China.
In terms of R&D investment, Meituan spent CNY 5 billion on R&D in Q1 2023, accounting for 8.6% of revenue. On April 27, Meituan’s delivery drones cooperated with Shenzhen's renowned 5A level scenic area, Window of the World, and opened the first normalized drone flight route for scenic areas in China. The drones can deliver various popular online restaurants, as well as urgently needed mother and baby products, to the Window of the World in as little as 5 minutes.
Meituan is actively preparing for its international business.At present, Meituan's efforts towards expanding its international presence are in the exploratory phase. Meituan has opted to conduct a pilot of its takeaway business in Hong Kong, China, prior to commencing operations in overseas markets. The company subsequently launched its takeaway platform, KeeTa, on May 22, 2023.
The major competitors of Meituan include Chinese companies such as Alibaba-backed Ele.me (Chinese: 饿了么), Trip.com Group Limited. (Chinese: 携程) and Didi (Chinese: 滴滴), as well as international players such as DoorDash from the US and Deliveroo from the UK.
As of press time, Meituan closed at HKD 126 apiece, with a market cap of HKD 786.49 billion.