(Yicai) May 30 -- Didi Global, China's largest ride-hailing company, widened its net loss by more than a fifth to CNY1.1 billion (USD151.7 million) in the first quarter amid surging sales and marketing costs despite a record high of trips.

Net loss expanded by 22 percent from a year ago while revenue rose 15 percent to CNY49.1 billion (USD6.8 billion), the Beijing-based company wrote in its earnings report yesterday. This marks a change of direction as the two previous quarters were profitable.

A highlight was Didi's international business as such revenue jumped 44 percent to CNY2.4 billion in the three months ended March. Didi offers rides in Brazil and Mexico.

The firm completed 3.7 billion trips on its core platform, up 30 percent. Orders on the mainland jumped 27 percent to a record high of 2.9 billion trips, making up almost four-fifths of the total, and even foreign orders reached an all-time high of 792 million.

"Benefitting from the continued deepening of our core business, all of our businesses have grown steadily thus far in 2024," said Cheng Wei, chairman and chief executive. "In both our domestic and international markets, we achieved historical quarterly highs in transactions during the first quarter of 2024, and we have every confidence about the future."

Almost in line with the pace of revenue increase, sales and marketing expenses widened by 16 percent to CNY2.4 billion. Spending on operations and support also rose by 16 percent to CNY1.8 billion, primarily driven by increases in driver fees in China.

However, research and development expenses decreased by 15 percent to CNY1.9 billion, following the company's transfer of its smart auto business to electric vehicle brand Xpeng during the preceding quarter.

Didi Global also announced that it will scrap the position of president so Liu Qing no longer serves as a director and president of the company. Instead, he has been appointed as a permanent partner. Chief Financial Officer Alan Yue Zhuo was named a director.

Editor: Emmi Laine