China's Meituan Dianping posts $221.27m loss in Q1

The food delivery giant warned that business will be affected by the pandemic in 2020.

Chinese food delivery giant Meituan Dianping posted a smaller-than-expected fall in revenue on 25 May after its business was hit by nationwide virus curbs but cautioned that the pandemic would continue to have an impact.

After three consecutive profitable quarters, the company’s loss for Q1 ended March 31 was $221.27m (CNY1.58b), compared with the $200.57m (CNY1.43b) loss for the same period last year.

Total revenue fell to $2.35b (CNY16.75b) from $2.69b (CNY19.17b) a year earlier. Analysts on average had expected revenue of $2.26b (CNY16.11b), according to IBES data from Refinitiv.

Beijing-based Meituan, whose sprawling business ranges from hotel booking to ride hailing, warned it would be affected by the pandemic for the rest of the year.

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