China's Temu owner says net profits surge 144% in Q2

BEIJING — Chinese e-commerce giant PDD Holdings — owner of shopping platform Temu — announced on Monday a jump in net profit for the second quarter as the company continues to boost its competitiveness at home and abroad.

The Shanghai-based firm reported $4.4 billion of net profit for the quarter ending June 30, a 144 per cent rise from the same period last year, according to a company statement.

Its sales rose 86 per cent year-on-year to $13.4 billion.

PDD Holdings is the parent company of Pinduoduo — a Chinese online marketplace for low-cost products launched in 2015.

Pinduoduo is experiencing growing success in China at a time when Chinese consumers are cutting back on spending and turning to low-cost products even despite an economic slowdown and high youth unemployment.

Its international version, Temu, has sucked in consumers with its low prices and all-powerful algorithms. 

It has become one of the most popular online shopping sites in the United States, propelled by a marketing strategy that featured multiple prime-time Super Bowl advertisements.

It is also one of the fastest-growing apps in Europe despite only entering the EU market in April 2023, and has already faced fierce scrutiny from consumer groups over its practices.

PDD Holdings founder Colin Huang, worth $48.6 billion, recently became China's richest man, the Bloomberg Billionaires Index showed in August. 

In April, regulators in South Korea opened an investigation into Temu on suspicion of unfair practices including false advertising and poor product quality.