BRIEF: Vipshop shares tumble on accelerating revenue declines

China’s online discount retailer Vipshop Holdings Limited (VIPS.US) said on Tuesday its second- quarter revenue fell 3.6% to 26.9 billion yuan ($3.7 billion) from 27.9 billion yuan a year earlier. Net profit was 1.9 billion yuan for the quarter versus 2.1 billion yuan for the same period last year. Its total orders fell by an even larger 8% to 197.8 million.

The company’s gross merchandise value (GMV) remained flat at 50.6 billion yuan year-on-year. Despite the weakness in its core e-commerce business, Vipshop managed to expand its gross margin to 23.6% from 22.2% a year earlier, helping its gross profit to grow 2.2% to 6.3 billion yuan.

The company forecast third-quarter revenue of 20.5 billion yuan to 21.6 billion yuan, which would be down between 5% and 10% year-on-year, accelerating from the second-quarter decline rate. The company’s stock dipped 17.43% after it published the results to close at $11.56.

Reporting by Teri Yu

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