The Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi has reported a 19% decrease in revenue year on year from 173.8 billion RMB (25.14 billion USD) in 2021 to 140.8 billion RMB (20.37 billion USD) in 2022, as per its financial report released on 29 April.
This is the first annual report after the company was delisted from the New York Stock Exchange in June 2022 as it was under a cybersecurity probe by Chinese authorities. This was followed by a fine of 1.18 billion USD in July 2022 after the company was found to have broken cyber security laws.
In the meantime, net loss attributed to Didi Global narrowed by 52% to 23.8 billion RMB (3.44 billion USD) in 2022 from 49.3 billion RMB (7.13 billion USD) the year before. It attributes the decline in revenue to the decrease in GTV (Gross Transaction Value) in its China Mobility Segment, citing the effects of COVID outbreaks in the second and fourth quarters of 2022.
By contrast, Didi’s revenues generated from its international segment (which includes ride-hailing and food delivery services) increased by 61.9% to 5.9 billion RMB (853.6 million USD) in 2022, compared to 3.6 billion RMB (520.83 million USD) in 2021. The increase was “primarily due to the growth of GTV and improved incentive efficiencies” with its customers, as stated in the report.
The company, however, has seen an improvement in its domestic performance since the Lunar New Year period, which closely followed China’s reopening from COVID restrictions on 8 January. Demand for commuting, consumer travel, and travel to and from airports, train stations and other picks up, contributed to the recovery of its China Mobility segment.
The festivities and reopening were coupled with the resumption of Didi’s app downloads and new user registration on 16 January 2023 after approval from China’s Security Review Office. Didi’s app had been removed from app stores in July 2021 as ordered by the regulator over data protection. A further rebound was recorded in March when the company completed an average of 28.2 million daily transactions for the China Mobility segment, which represents a 42% increase from March 2022.
