The President of China's ride-hailing giant Didi announced that its business remains profitable even after the pandemic shook its home market. The president did not expound on the figures, or the measure of profitability applies. Still, it is the first time that the Chinese technology firm announced its earnings.
During an interview this Thursday, Didi President Jean Liu claimed that its business is still booming in the Chinese market. She announced that the long-term viability of the ride-hailing sector in the country continues to be called into question. Even the company's ride volume in China improved by 60 to 70 percent compared to pre-pandemic levels. She noted that the improvement was five times better than figures from February this year.
She also highlighted that the company suffered during February. Still, the core business remains profitable after recovering from the loss after China lifted some restrictions imposed during the pandemic. It was revealed that China effectively shut down for weeks in Wuhan and the rest of the country. In recent weeks, however, the country has resumed its travel activity as Wuhan also reopened.
Didi's headquarters is based in Beijing while it operates in other parts of China, including in countries such as Japan and Australia. Liu then added that the company has been recovering in these jurisdictions both locally and internationally. Nevertheless, she noted that in some countries, Didi has been imposing a different business strategy to foster performance enhancements. In other countries, Liu revealed that there are less strict social distancing measures. Therefore, she claimed that there has been a lesser drop in its services compared to the company's performance in China. She also hinted that bounce back might be uncertain in these areas.
The long-term potential of Didi also remained unchanged fundamentally. Liu noted that the business still needs a long-term commitment and that investing in other sectors is still necessary to effectuate substantial improvement. Hence, she announced that the company continues to invest in artificial intelligence initiatives, particularly on autonomous cars.
In the US, Didi's competitor Lyft laid off 982 employees to cope with the losses incurred due to the pandemic. On the other hand, Didi maintained the employment of its workers and currently does not have plans to lay off employees or raise its capital. Liu then revealed that the company continues to enjoy a solid balance sheet.
Didi also raised over 21 billion USD from its investors, such as SoftBank and Japanese carmaker Toyota. She added that the company was overwhelmed when the outbreak hit China. Still, its core team was swift on finding business solutions to prevent substantial losses for the company.
