Meituan posts second consecutive quarterly loss amid costly instant commerce battle
The Beijing-based company had a challenging 2025 after local e-commerce giant JD.com jumped into food and grocery deliveries
Chinese food and on-demand delivery giant Meituan reported on Thursday its second consecutive quarterly loss since 2022, as intense competition and a prolonged price war with Alibaba Group Holding and JD.com last year squeezed margins.
The company reported a 15 billion yuan (US$2.2 billion) adjusted net loss – worse than the 12.9 billion yuan average estimate by analysts – for the fourth quarter ended December 31, compared with adjusted net profit of 9.8 billion yuan a year earlier.
Its bread-and-butter local commerce segment – including the domestic food-delivery and in-store business – posted an operating loss of 10 billion yuan, as the company poured significant resources into incentives for merchants, customers and couriers to fend off rivals.
For the full year, Meituan posted an adjusted net loss of 18.6 billion yuan, compared with adjusted net profit of 44 billion yuan for 2024.
Meituan’s Hong Kong-listed shares closed down 3.67 per cent to HK$86.70 ahead of the earnings results announcement.
The Beijing-based company had a challenging 2025 after local e-commerce giant JD.com jumped into food and grocery deliveries – also known as instant commerce – to grab a slice of a market that is expected to surpass 1 trillion yuan in sales by the end of this year.