JD.com on Thursday beat analysts’ estimates to report a 7% increase in first-quarter sales, nearly a year after the Chinese e-commerce giant doubled down on a strategy to support more small merchants selling cheap goods on its platform amid increased industry competition and weak domestic consumption, reports the South China Morning Post.
The Beijing-based company said revenue rose to RMB 260 billion ($36 billion) in the March quarter, from about RMB 243 billion a year earlier, on the back of electronics, home appliances, general merchandise and logistics services income. That was ahead of the RMB 257.72 billion average forecast from 21 analysts’ estimates compiled by the London Stock Exchange Group.
Net income attributable to shareholders was up nearly 14% to RMB 7.1 billion, compared with about RMB 6.3 billion in the same period last year.