Chinese retailer Suning, which runs both online and brick and mortar shops, expects to earn a profit between RMB 450 million and 550 million (USD 68.6 million to 83.9 million) in the first quarter of this year, after a loss of USD 83.9 million in the same quarter in 2020, according to company filings on Thursday.
The efforts to catch up with its e-commerce peers are starting to pay off for the firm, which continues to reduce its debt. The retail cloud business has maintained its rapid growth, adding 3,201 new stores and achieving profitability last year, said the report.
Also, the rapid transformation of its delivery service has “reduced the logistics losses to a certain extent,” said the filings. Last month, Suning formed a joint venture with industry giant GLP to revitalize its logistics assets and improve profitability.
At the company’s new year event, founder and CEO Zhang Jindong made the resolution to “subtract, shrink, and cut what needs to be cut in the businesses that are not related to retail,” The Paper reported. Between November and February, Suning and affiliates spent a total of RMB 18 billion (USD 2.7 billion) on selling, repurchasing, and repaying corporate bonds, 36Kr reported, citing data from Wind.
This article is part of KrASIA’s “Key Stat” series, where KrASIA picks and presents the most significant figures of the day’s technology and business world.