China’s Xiaomi Swings To Net Profit In Third Quarter, Beats Estimates

Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi Inc on Monday said it swung to a net profit in the third quarter, beating analyst estimates, driven by robust sales in India and Europe.

Profit for the three months through September reached 2.48 billion yuan ($357.23 million), versus a 11 billion yuan loss in the same period a year earlier, the company said in a statement.

The result compared with a 1.92 billion yuan average of five analyst estimates compiled by Refinitiv Eikon.

The results come amid a slowdown in smartphone purchases both in China, where Xiaomi once was the top-selling handset brand, and overseas.

Nevertheless Xiaomi, along with fellow low-cost handset makers Oppo and Vivo, accounted for around a quarter of the global smartphone market in the first half of 2018, showed data from researcher IDC.

Xiaomi also said operating profit sank 38.4 percent to 3.59 billion yuan in the third quarter. Revenue rose 49.1 percent to 50.85 billion yuan.

The results are the second set released by Xiaomi since the smartphone maker raised $4.72 billion in an initial public offering in June, valuing the firm at about $54 billion – around half of some earlier industry estimates of $100 billion.

Its shares have fallen roughly 20 percent since they started trading in July amid a broader Chinese stock market sell-off and concern about a slowdown in China’s tech industry. – Reuters