Pinduoduo announced increased GMV by 386% year-on-year to 344.8 billion yuan (US$50.2 bn). Its active buyers rose by 144% year-on-year to 385.5 million in the last twelve months ended September 2018.
Average monthly active users totaled 231.7 million in Q3 2018, an increase of 226% year-on-year. Annual spending per active buyer was 894.4 yuan (US$130.2), increased by 99% from the prior year period.
Pinduoduo’s total revenues reached 3,372.4 million yuan (US$491.0 mn), an increase of 697% year-over-year and 24% quarter-on-quarter. However, it has been accused by a US investment firm of overstating its revenues and understating its losses and staffing costs.
- Revenues from online marketing services were 2,974.1 million yuan (US$433.0 mn), an increase of 927% year-on-year and 25% quarter-on-quarter.
- Revenues from commission fees were 398.3 million yuan (US$58.0 mn), an increase of 198% year-on-year and 18% quarter-on-quarter.
Total costs of revenues were 774.7 million yuan (US$112.8 mn), an increase of 315% year-on-year and 100% quarter-on-quarter. The increase from last quarter was mainly due to higher costs for cloud services, our call center and merchant support.
Total operating expenses were 3,867.2 million yuan (US$563.1 mn), compared with 470.6 million yuan in Q3 2017.
- Sales and marketing expenses were 3,229.6 million yuan (US$470.2 mn), an increase of 655% year-on-year, mainly due to an increase in branding campaigns and online and offline advertisement and promotions.
- General and administrative expenses were 305.6 million yuan (US$44.5 mn), a significant increase from 7.0 million yuan in Q3 2017, primarily due to an increase in headcount and share-based compensation expenses.
- Research and development expenses were 332.0 million yuan (US$48.3 mn), an increase of 828% year-on-year.
Operating loss was 1,269.5 million yuan (US$184.8 mn), more than 5 times as much compared with operating loss of 234.4 million yuan in Q3 2017. Non-GAAP operating loss was 790.0 million yuan (US$115.0 mn), compared with 230.9 million yuan in Q3 2017.
Basic and diluted net loss per ADS was 1.20 yuan (US$0.16), compared with 0.52 yuan in the prior year period. Non-GAAP basic and diluted net loss per ADS was 0.68 yuan (US$0.08), compared with 0.48 yuan in the prior year period.
Net cash provided by operating activities was 249.7 million yuan (US$36.4 mn), compared with net cash used in operating activities of 682.1 million yuan in the prior year period, primarily due to an increase in online marketing services revenue.
Cash and cash equivalents were 15.0 billion yuan (US$2.2 bn) as of September 30, 2018, compared with 3.1 billion yuan as of December 31, 2017.