Dangdang returns to black in Q4 2013

Dangdang returned to black in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2013, making it the company's first profitable quarter since the first quarter of 2011.[Photo by Jing Wei / Asianewsphoto]

The New York stock exchange-listed E-Commerce China Dangdang Inc returned to black in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2013, making it the company's first profitable quarter since the first quarter of 2011.

The Beijing-based Dangdang, a leading business-to-consumer e-commerce company in China, posted a net income of 21.7 million yuan ($3.53 million) in the fourth quarter of 2013, according to its unaudited financial results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year that ended Dec 31, 2013, released on Thursday.

The net income represents about 1.1 percent of the company's net revenue in Q4, compared with a net loss of 122.1 million yuan in the same quarter in 2012.

"Dangdang returned to profitability in the fourth quarter of 2013," said Peppy Yu Yu, executive chairwoman of Dangdang. "This reflects our commitment to improve our financial performance and solid execution of our strategies to transform Dangdang from an online bookstore into an integrated online shopping mall targeting mid- to high-end consumers."

Thanks to a strong Q4 2013, Dangdang reported a net loss of 142.9 million yuan for fiscal year 2013. The net loss for 2012 was 443.9 million yuan.

Total net revenue for fiscal year 2013 was 6,325 million yuan, a 21.8 percent increase from 2012. Media products again contributed most of Dangdang's revenue in 2013.

About 64 percent of Dangdang's total revenue in 2013 was generated by media products, compared with 31.6 percent by general merchandise and 4.4 percent by third-party merchants.

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