China's Didi Global swings to profit in second quarter

By Casey Hall and Liam Mo

SHANGHAI (Reuters) -China's largest ride-hailing company, Didi Global, swung to a net profit of 1.4 billion yuan ($196.24 million) for the second quarter from a 300 million yuan loss a year earlier as it continues to build back its business badly hit by a regulatory crackdown.

The company saw revenue rise 4.1% to 50.9 billion yuan for the quarter.

Didi has begun recovering after drawing the attention of China's cyberspace regulator in 2021 over its pursuit of a U.S. initial public offering without approval, prompting an inquiry that prohibited it from adding users and saw many of its apps removed from major app stores.

The regulator then handed Didi a $1.2 billion fine in 2022 over data security violations, before granting it permission to relaunch its apps early last year.

Co-founder Jean Liu stepped down earlier this year from her roles as president and board director.

Liu, who over the past decade was heavily involved in financial decisions, has become a "permanent partner" and maintains her current duties, including serving as chief people officer.

Didi, which is seen as China's answer to Uber, generates most of its revenue at home but also has a significant presence in Brazil and Mexico where it owns major ride-hailing platforms.

Overall ride-hailing orders reached 971 million trips in June, data from the Ministry of Transport showed, an increase of 27.3% from the same month a year earlier.

It sold its electric vehicle (EV) development business to Xpeng a year ago in a deal worth $744 million in exchange for a roughly 3.25% stake in the vehicle maker.

($1 = 7.1340 Chinese yuan renminbi)

(Reporting by Casey Hall in Shanghai and Liam Mo in Beijing, Editing by Louise Heavens)