China's Didi reports third-quarter rebound from regulatory crackdown (updated)

DiDi Global

29/11/2024 10:14

(Adds new accounting standard details in paragraph 2,
background in paragraphs 5-13)
       BEIJING, Nov 29 (Reuters) - China's largest ride-hailing
company Didi Global  92Sy.MU  reported third-quarter net income
of 929 million yuan ($128.42 million) on Friday, as it built
back its business after a regulatory crackdown.
    That compared with a net loss of 284 million yuan in the
same quarter last year, the company said in its financial
statement, revised from an earlier reported net profit after the
group adopted a new accounting standard earlier this year.
    Continuing its recovery after being badly hit by a
regulatory crackdown, the company's revenue was up 5% at 53.9
billion yuan for the three months to Sept. 30.
    Didi drew the attention of China's cyberspace regulator in
2021 over its pursuit of a U.S. initial public offering without
approval, prompting an inquiry that prohibited it from adding
users and saw many of its apps removed from stores.
    The regulator handed Didi a $1.2 billion fine in July 2022
over a data security violation, before granting the company
permission to relaunch its apps in early 2023.
    Travel demand in China has shown signs of a recovery, though
economic growth is sluggish. The company completed a total of
3.2 billion transactions during the quarter, a 10.6%
year-on-year rise across its platforms in China.
    Didi, which is seen as China's answer to Uber  UBER.N ,
generates most of its revenue at home but also has a significant
presence in Brazil and Mexico.
    Third-quarter revenue from international operations rose to
2.9 billion yuan from 2 billion yuan a year earlier.
    Over the past two years, Didi has been divesting non-core
assets. In August it sold its smart cockpit unit to a subsidiary
of state-backed map provider NavInfo. 
    Last year, Didi divested its electric vehicle development
business - the majority of its EV-related assets - to Xpeng
 9868.HK .
    ($1 = 7.2342 Chinese yuan renminbi)

 (Reporting by Liam Mo and Brenda Goh; Editing by David Goodman
and Jan Harvey)
 ((liam.mo@thomsonreuters.com;))