China's online marketplace 58.com reported revenues of $48.2 million in the first quarter of 2014, a 103.3% increase from the same period last year.
The company's unaudited financial results for quarter ended 31 March 2014 shows net income at $2.3 million, compared with the net loss of $4.7 million in the same quarter of 2013.
Michael Yao, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of 58.com, said the triple-digit revenue growth was due to high traffic growth. "Traffic rebounded quickly following the eight-day Chinese New Year holiday with total monthly unique visitors exceeding 200 million for the first time. While PC traffic continues to grow, 51% of traffic, defined as average monthly page views in the first quarter of 2014, came from our mobile platforms."
The company's revenues from its online marketing services also continued to grow at a faster pace than its membership revenues that increased profitability despite the seasonally heavier spending on branding and marketing efforts during the quarter.
"We believe this demonstrates the effectiveness of our solid monetization strategy where efficiency increases as our business scales up," Hao Zhou, Chief Financial Officer of 58.com.
58.com's membership revenues for the quarter reached $27.5 million, an increase of 85% from $14.9 million in the same quarter of 2013. The number of paying merchant members during the first quarter of 2014 also grew to approximately 441,000, up 77.1% from 249,000 in the same quarter of 2013.
Meanwhile, online marketing services revenues reached $20.5 million, an increase of 146.8% from $8.3 million in the same quarter of 2013.