JD JD com Inc

By Brittney Laryea 

Chinese e-commerce company JD.com Inc. narrowed its loss for the second quarter, helped by improved margins, as adjusted profit topped Wall Street's expectations.

JD.com shares, which had fallen 31% so far this year as of Tuesday's close, jumped 7.1% premarket to $23.95.

The earnings report comes after JD.com in June struck a deal with Wal-Mart Stores Inc. to expand its e-commerce business in China. Wal-Mart said it would sell its Yihaodian website to JD.com, which is China's second-largest online retailer after Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., instead of continuing to try to enter the market by itself.

The companies said they would collaborate on e-commerce to build Yihaodian's business and launch a Sam's Club flagship store on JD.com. During the quarter, JD.com also said it would launch British Mall, a channel that allows Chinese consumers to buy U.K. brands.

"With our reputation for high-quality online shopping and same-day delivery already cemented with Chinese consumers, we are taking steps to further extend that advantage," said Chief Executive Richard Liu.

In the latest quarter, annual active customer accounts increased 65% to total 188.1 million. Online direct sales grew by 40% while revenue for services and others climbed 67% compared with the same period last year.

The company's gross margin, a key metric for firms that sell goods online, rose to 15% from 12.9%.

Over all, JD.com posted a loss of RMB252.3 million ($38 million), improved from a loss of RMB510.4 million a year earlier. The per-share loss was RMB0.18 a share, and adjusted profit was RMB0.29 a share, topping analysts' expectations of a loss of RMB0.19.

JD.com said sales rose 42% to RMB65.24 billion ($9.82 billion) for the quarter, slightly under analysts' expectations of RMB65.34 billion.

Write to Brittney Laryea at brittney.laryea@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 11, 2016 02:49 ET (06:49 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.