(Yicai) Aug. 4 -- Leading Chinese coffee chain Luckin Coffee further accelerated new store openings over the first half of this year, adding more than 5,000 new spots while its competitors in the domestic market continued to shrink.

Luckin opened a net 2,548 new outlets in the first quarter of this year and a net 2,714 in the second quarter, the Xiamen-based company said in an earnings report released late yesterday. Its global store count reached 36,310.

In contrast, other coffee chains have slowed their store expansion in China since the start of the year, with the total number of coffee shops in the country falling to 227,000 in June from 243,000 in January, according to data from Zhaimen Canyan.

Luckin will stick to its existing expansion pace to lift its market share as China still has substantial room for additional shops, Chief Executive Officer Guo Jinyi said at an earnings conference call. The Chinese coffee market remains in a phase of rapid growth with rising penetration and steadily improving consumption frequency, he added.

Regarding overseas markets, Luckin ran 89 self-operated stores in Singapore and 20 in the United States as of June 30, as well as 114 franchised shops in Malaysia.

Luckin takes a prudent approach to overseas expansion and focuses on refining its single-store profitability model and accumulating operational experience, its management stressed.

For the second quarter, Luckin's revenue surged 29 percent to CNY15.9 billion (USD2.4 billion) from a year earlier, mainly driven by store expansion and a record 112.7 million monthly customers, the ranks of which soared 23 percent.

Revenue from self-operated stores soared 27 percent to CNY11.6 billion, while that from franchised outlets surged 28 percent to CNY3.7 billion (USD543 million). Store-level operating profit for self-operated shops rose 26 percent to CNY2.5 billion, with an operating profit margin of 21 percent.

However, dragged by a high comparison base stemming from fierce delivery platform promotions over the year-earlier period, same-store sales at Luckin's self-operated stores fell 5.3 percent last quarter, versus a 14 percent increase in the same period last year. Despite that, operating profit at such shops jumped 26 percent to CNY2.5 billion on a flat year-on-year operating profit margin.

The drop in same-store sales was in line with internal expectations, Guo pointed out. July and August last year saw the most intense rounds of delivery subsidy wars in China, so same-store sales this quarter are still set to face pressure from a high comparison base, he noted.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Martin Kadiev