Didi suffers RMB 4.04 bln loss in first half, plows over RMB 10 bln into subsidy

Shanghai (Gasgoo)- Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi Chuxing suffered an interim loss up to RMB4.04 billion in the first half of the year, 61% more than the annual loss of RMB 2.5 billion in 2017, according to a financial report obtained by local media.

According to the data, Didi Chuxing plowed up to RMB 11.78 billion into the subsidy for passengers and incentives for drivers during the first six months. This number accounts for 65% of the overall subsidy devoted throughout 2017.

The ride-hailing's gross margin for the first half of 2018 sat at 1.6%, 0.3 percentages lower than the 1.9% in 2017, the financial data shows.

From the statistics exposed before, a total of 7.43 billion orders were completed on the Didi platform last year. Although the aggregated subsidy was up to RMB 18.1 billion in 2017, quite an immense number, average subsidy for each order (including the passenger and the driver) reached only RMB 2.43. That's why users seldom praise the subsidy goodies.

In addition, the company has invested around RMB 7.1 billion in the R&D and another RMB 3.7 billion in the server payment and other cost. It seems that Didi Chuxing still has long way to go before achieving profits.