* Q2 revenue 45.9 billion yuan vs forecast 44.45 billion
* Sees Q3 revenue of between 43.2 and 44.7 billion
(Adds details, context)
By Paul Carsten
BEIJING, Aug 7 (Reuters) - JD.com Inc JD.O , China's
second-largest e-commerce site by sales, reported a 61 percent
year-on-year rise in quarterly revenue, topping expectations,
powered by a jump in the number of shoppers and goods bought on
its platform.
The group's second-quarter revenue of 45.9 billion yuan
($7.4 billion) exceeded an average estimate of 44.45 billion,
according to a Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S poll of 14 analysts.
But the company's growth rate is expected to slow in the
third quarter. JD.com said it sees third-quarter revenue of
between 43.2 and 44.7 billion yuan, which would be up 49 to 54
percent from the previous year.
JD.com, a distant rival to Alibaba (NYSE:BABA) Group Holding Ltd
BABA.N , is investing heavily in its offline operations to
complement its internet platform, taking activities like
warehousing and deliveries into its own hands.
This business model, similar in style to Amazon.com Inc's
AMZN.O , takes its toll and the company made a net loss of
510.4 million yuan, shrinking only slightly from the previous
year's 583 million despite the leap in revenue.
The catalyst for that jump was the 118 million annual active
customer accounts on JD.com in the 12 months ended June 30, up
72 percent from the same period a year earlier.
Those customers drove an 82 percent jump in the total value
of products sold on the company's platforms in the quarter, to a
total of 114.5 billion yuan.
JD.com also said it will buy 10 percent of Chinese
supermarket operator Yonghui Superstores Co Ltd 601933.SS for
4.31 billion yuan, with the right to nominate two directors to
the board.
Shares in JD.com have risen 41.79 percent since the
beginning of the year.
($1 = 6.2087 Chinese yuan renminbi)