(Yicai Global) Dec. 10 -- Chinese coffee chain operator Luckin Coffee almost turned a profit in the third quarter after revenue nearly doubled because it better retained customers who ordered more and paid higher prices.

Luckin Coffee shrank its net loss by almost 99 percent to CNY23.5 million (USD3.6 million) in the three months ended Sept. 30, the Xiamen-based company’s latest earnings report showed yesterday, versus CNY1.7 billion a year earlier.

Net revenue doubled to CNY2.35 billion (USD364.7 million), primarily driven by the increased average price of products, as well as a rise in monthly active customers and sales.

Chairman and Chief Executive Jinyi Guo attributed the strong performance to “increased customer retention and order frequency, greater brand recognition, and our products achieving higher average selling price.”

Luckin Coffee delisted from the Nasdaq in June last year due to a financial scandal.

Third-quarter non-GAAP net income was CNY54.6 million, compared with a non-GAAP net loss of CNY614.1 million a year ago, making it the first time that the firm has made a profit since its massive expansion program began in 2018. 

Operating expenses jumped 47 percent to CNY2.4 billion, mainly due to expansion. Luckin Coffee had 5,671 outlets at the end of September, an increase of 17.4 percent from a year earlier.

Profit at self-operated stores was CNY452.1 million, and the operating profit margin was 25.2 percent. The average monthly number of customers soared just over 79 percent to 14.7 million.

Editor: Tom Litting