(Feb 14): Meituan warned of its biggest annual loss since at least 2021, underscoring the extent to which a brutal price-based war in food delivery is eroding margins at China’s largest internet companies.
The Beijing-based firm expects to record a loss of between CNY23.3 billion (US$3.4 billion or $4.3 billion) and CNY24.3 billion for 2025, according to an exchange filing. That’s a stark reversal from a profit of CNY35.8 billion in 2024. It booked a loss of more than CNY23.5 billion in 2021.
Citing “unprecedentedly intense” industry competition in 2025, Meituan said it ramped up spending across its ecosystem — from marketing and promotions to incentives for couriers and merchants, while expanding overseas. The investments weighed on profitability for the domestic commerce segment, and the loss-making trend is expected to continue into the first quarter, the company said in the filing.
Meituan has been fighting for market share against other Chinese tech giants, including Alibaba Group Holding Ltd and JD.com Inc, that are spending billions of yuan on discounts and subsidies to drive deeper into the meal-delivery and quick-commerce market despite weaker consumer demand. Meituan has been forced to respond in kind, depressing margins even as its growth slows.
The subsidy-driven price war in China’s online food-delivery market has drawn scrutiny from the country’s top antitrust body, which last month launched an investigation into competition practices in the industry, citing concerns they are distorting the real economy.
In the Friday statement, Meituan said its operations remain stable and that the group has sufficient cash to support the steady development of its businesses, adding that it is “firmly opposed to irrational competition”.
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The company said it expected to publish finalised annual results by the end of March.
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