BEIJING, January 9 (TMTPost)— American depositary receipts (ADRs) of Dada Nexus Limited diving as much as 49.5% and settled around 45.9% lower to US$1.70 on Monday, the lowest close and the biggest daily decline since shares started trading in June 2020.
Credit：Visual China
Dada’s shares plummet came after the JD.com’s unit disclosed it is investigating suspicious practices involving millions of dollars of revenue in the past year. “During its routine internal audit, Dada identified certain suspicious practices that may cast doubt on certain revenues from its online advertising and marketing services, together with its operations and support costs, for the first three quarters of 2023,” JD said in a filling with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange during pre-marketing trading on Monday. “ The audit committee under the board of directos decided to conduct an independent review with the help of independent professional advisors.”
In a separate filling with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) the same day, Dada reconfirmed certain suspicious practices were identified in the course of its routine internal audit, which may raise questions about certain previous revenues in 2023. During the first quarter of 2023, about RMB500 million (US$70.1 million) of revenue from online advertising and marketing services and RMB500 of operating and support costs may have been overstated, respectively, Dada estimated based on its preliminary assessment. Moreover, it believes the previous revenue guidance for the fourth quarter and full year of 2023 should no longer be relied upon until further notice.
After reviewing the current information, the abovementioned audit committee has determined it would be in the best interest of the company and the shareholders to conduct an independent review to ascertain the financial impact and scope of suspicious practices, if any, and the root cause, Dada said. The China’s leading on-demand delivery platform vowed to stay committed to maintaining high standards of corporate governance and internal controls, as well as transparent and timely disclosure in compliance with the applicable rules and regulations.
The suspicous practices were found through Dada’s own audits and could result from the fraud committed by a few individuals, Chinese business newspaper 21st Century Business Herald reported, citing an insider of Dada. The insider said the company has filed a police report and the incident has limited affect on Dada since the core business is not involved in.
Dada operates JDDJ, one of China’s largest local on-demand retail platforms for retailers and brand owners, and Dada Now, a leading local on-demand delivery platform open to merchants and individual senders across various industries and product categories. JD began to hold 52% stakes in Dada following an additional investment of approximate US$546 million in February 2022.
Recent financial report released in November showed Dada delivered robust growth in third quarter of 2023. Its net revenue increased 20.4% year-over-year (YoY) to RMB2.87 billion , out of which RMB1.79 billion came from JDDJ with a 15.6% YoY increase and RMB1.08 billion from Dada Now with a 29.4% increase. The Non-GAAP basic and diluted net loss per share narrowed to RMB0.01, compared with loss of RMB0.26 a year ago. The total gross merchandise volume (GMV) of JDDJ for the twelve months ended September 30 2023 surged 24% YoY to RMB73.0 billion. Dada in November expected total net revenue for the last quarter of 2023 to be between RMB3.0 billion and RMB3.3 billion, representing a YoY growth range of 12% to 23%. The outlook is based on information available as of the release of earnings for third quarter and reflected Dada’s preliminary expectations, which are subject to change in light of various uncertainties, the company said.