China's food deliverer Meituan reports wider loss, revenues rise

[BEIJING] Chinese food delivery giant Meituan on Friday (Mar 25) reported a better than expected 30.6 per cent rise in fourth-quarter revenue, at the same time as investment in new initiatives increased losses and costs related to regulatory scrutiny rose.

Meituan, whose services also include restaurant reviews and bike-sharing, said revenue rose to 49.52 billion yuan (S$10.6 billion) in the final 3 months of 2021.

Consensus analysts expectations were for 49.20 billion yuan, Refinitiv Eikon data showed.

The quarterly loss swelled to 5.34 billion yuan from a loss of 2.24 billion yuan a year earlier, as Meituan continued to invest in initiatives including its community e-commerce unit Meituan Select.

Chinese regulators last year ordered food delivery companies to provide their workers with insurance and pay income above the minimum wage.

Together with other tech giants such as Alibaba Group and Tencent Holdings, Meituan was targeted by a crackdown as Beijing imposed rules on a sector that had been largely unregulated.

It was fined $530 million in October for violating anti-monopoly regulations.

Its Hong Kong-listed shares have lost nearly half their value in the last 12 months.

Friday's results showed Meituan's food delivery-related cost, which includes cost on delivery riders, also increased by 38.3 per cent in the quarter to 68.18 billion yuan.

Revenue from food delivery, which accounts for over half of Meituan's total revenue, increased 21.3 per cent to 26.13 billion yuan over the quarter.

Sales in new initiatives rose 58.7 per cent year over year to 14.67 billion yuan. REUTERS