Suning reports $1.7b in e-commerce

Suning Commerce Group Co Ltd, a leading home appliance retailer, saw its e-commerce business increase by 101 percent to 10.6 billion yuan ($1.73 billion), the company said in a profit statement on Wednesday, according to National Business Daily.

Suning Commerce's second largest stockholder and senior managers had increased their shares before the statement was announced.

In mid-July, the company's senior managers spent nearly 40 million yuan to increase their shares. At the end of June, Suning Appliance Co Ltd, the second largest shareholder of Suning Commerce, increased its holding by 0.5 percent to 14.21 percent, paying 4.98 yuan per share.

The statement showed Suning Commerce's gross operational income at 55.5 billion yuan, representing an annual increase of 17.51 percent. Its primary business income had grown by 17.82 percent while gross and net profits declined by 60.90 percent and 58.24 percent respectively.

E-commerce stands out in the company's portfolio. Redbaby alone, a major e-commerce portal of Suning, recorded 1.8 billion yuan in sales.

Suning Commerce ventured in two new prefecture-level cities in the first half of this year, opening up 28 new stores while shutting or substituting 120 others. By the time the profit statement was released, the company had 1,614 chain stores on the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong and Japan.