China's Didi Global swings to profit in second quarter

By Casey Hall and Liam Mo

SHANGHAI (Reuters) -China's largest ride-hailing company, Didi Global, swung to a net profit of 1.4 billion yuan ($196.24 million) for the second quarter from a 300 million yuan loss a year earlier as it continues to build back its business badly hit by a regulatory crackdown.

The company saw revenue rise 4.1% to 50.9 billion yuan for the quarter.

Didi has begun recovering after drawing 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 major app stores.

The regulator then handed Didi a $1.2 billion fine in 2022 over data security violations, before granting it permission to relaunch its apps early last year.

Co-founder Jean Liu stepped down earlier this year from her roles as president and board director.

Liu, who over the past decade was heavily involved in financial decisions, has become a "permanent partner" and maintains her current duties, including serving as chief people officer.

Didi, which is seen as China's answer to Uber (NYSE:UBER ), generates most of its revenue at home but also has a significant presence in Brazil and Mexico where it owns major ride-hailing platforms.

Overall ride-hailing orders reached 971 million trips in June, data from the Ministry of Transport showed, an increase of 27.3% from the same month a year earlier.



It sold its electric vehicle (EV) development business to Xpeng (NYSE:XPEV ) a year ago in a deal worth $744 million in exchange for a roughly 3.25% stake in the vehicle maker.

($1 = 7.1340 Chinese yuan renminbi)

Source: Investing.com