Trip.com (9961), China's largest online travel agency, reported on Wednesday its first-half net profit slumped 99.6 percent year-on-year to 41 million yuan (HK$48 million), largely weighed down by a 5.2 billion yuan anti-monopoly penalty from China's market watchdog.
Still, the underlying net profit was 8.7 billion yuan, a 5.4 percent slip. Its net revenue rose 11 percent to 31.9 billion yuan, of which accommodation reservation revenue increased 11.2 percent to 13 billion yuan.
In the second quarter, the revenue on the company's international platform jumped by over 50 percent year-over-year, while inbound travel revenue grew at a high double-digit pace.
Jane Sun, chief executive said the company delivered resilient performance in the second quarter, with inbound and world-to-world travel continuing to gain momentum as structural growth drivers.
Shares of the company closed 3.86 percent higher at HK$323.2 on Wednesday.
In July, China's State Administration for Market Regulation found that Trip.com abused its dominant position in the domestic online hotel booking market by using its traffic allocation mechanism, platform rules and technical tools to require “exclusive cooperation agreements” and "the lowest price across the internet" from certain hotels.
Trip.com said it will strengthen its long-term governance mechanisms and strive to contribute to the sustainable development of the travel industry.
Frank Feng
