JD.com Changes Leadership Amid Jump in First-Quarter Profitability

By Ben Otto

Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com announced management changes Thursday, alongside a jump in quarterly profitability that was helped by streamlined expenses and rising service revenues.

The Beijing-based company said Chief Executive Lei Xu will retire due to personal reasons next month, and named Chief Financial Officer Sandy Ran Xu as his replacement. Ian Su Shan, CFO of JD Logistics, was appointed CFO of JD.com.

JD also said it posted a net profit of 6.26 billion yuan (US$902.9 million) in the first quarter, compared with a loss of CNY2.99 billion a year ago and a profit of CNY3.03 billion in the fourth quarter. The bottom line was helped by a CNY2.79 billion gain in other non-operating income, reversing from a loss of CNY3.90 billion a year ago.

First-quarter revenue rose 1.4% on year to CNY242.96 billion, with net product revenue falling 4.3%, while net service revenues rose more than 34%.

The company's cost of revenue rose 0.4% on year, while marketing expenses and R&D expenses fell 8.0% and 4.5%, respectively.

"We were pleased to see service revenues grow to account for 20% of our total revenues, helping deliver strong margins and reflecting our success in attracting a record number of third-party merchants to the JD.com platform," Ms. Sandy Ran Xu said. "We also see more encouraging trends in Q2, both financially and operationally."

Mr. Lei Xu has been with the company for more than a decade in various roles. Upon retirement, he will serve as the first chairman of JD's advisory council, the company said.

Write to Ben Otto at ben.otto@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 11, 2023 07:13 ET (11:13 GMT)

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