China’s JD.com posts upbeat results as online orders surge

(Reuters) – China’s JD.com Inc beat analysts’ estimates for quarterly sales on Monday, as the firm benefited from a shift in shopping habits of domestic consumers who have largely moved to online ever since the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

U.S.-listed shares of the e-commerce company rose 5% in trading before the bell.

The results coincide with growing tensions between Beijing and Washington. Several Chinese companies are putting off plans for U.S. listings amid tensions between the world’s top two economies, while those listed in New York are seeking to return to exchanges closer to home. In June, JD raised about $3.87 billion in its Hong Kong secondary listing.

JD executives did not offer any comments on U.S.-China tensions on a conference call with analysts on Monday.

China, which has under a thousand active COVID-19 cases currently, has largely emerged out of lockdowns but demand is still picking up in many sectors.

Retail sales in the world’s second-largest economy slipped in July, dashing expectations for a modest rise, as consumers failed to shake off wariness about the coronavirus, while the factory sector’s recovery struggled to pick up pace.

The company’s net product revenue, which includes online retail sales, rose 33.5% to 178.19 billion yuan in the second quarter.

Net income attributable to shareholders rose to 16.45 billion yuan from 618.8 million yuan a year earlier.

The company’s total net revenue rose 33.8% to 201.1 billion yuan ($28.98 billion) in the quarter ended June 30. Analysts on average had expected revenue of 190.95 billion yuan, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.

($1 = 6.9382 Chinese yuan renminbi)

(Reporting by Munsif Vengattil in Bengaluru and Josh Horwitz in Shanghai; Editing by Anil D’Silva and Maju Samuel)