(Yicai) July 31 -- Luckin Coffee, a fast-growing Chinese cafe chain operator that opened its first US outlets in New York City last month, said second-quarter profit jumped 44 percent, mainly thanks to strong revenue growth, a higher store count, and an increase in monthly transacting customers.

Net profit was CNY1.3 billion (USD174.4 million) in the three months ended June 30, compared with CNY871.1 million (USD121.9 million) a year earlier, the Xiamen-based company announced yesterday. Net margin narrowed to 10.1 percent from 10.4 percent.

Revenue jumped 47 percent to CNY12.4 billion (USD1.7 billion), driven by a 46 percent rise in gross merchandise volume to CNY14.2 billion, as more stores opened and monthly transacting customers increased, boosting product sales.

“Our focused execution of a scale-driven strategy accelerated revenue growth and improved operating margins,” said Guo Jinyi, co-founder and chief executive of Luckin.

“By leveraging our strengths in scale, operational efficiency, fulfillment, and supply chain, we capitalized on industry momentum and achieved double-digit same-store sales growth in our self-operated stores,” he added.

At quarter-end, Luckin had 26,206 stores, of which 16,968 were self-operated and 9,238 were partnerships, an increase of 8.8 percent on the end of the first quarter. Monthly transacting customers hit a record high of 91.7 million, a 32 percent gain on a year earlier.

Operating profit calculated based on generally accepted accounting principles surged 62 percent to CNY1.7 billion (USD237 million), with GAAP operating margin widening to 13.8 percent from 12.5 percent.

Set up in 2017, Luckin began with a mobile app-only model focused on quick pick-up service and a low‑price strategy. Within two years, the firm had rapidly scaled up to overtake Starbucks by store count in China, and it bounced back from an accounting scandal in 2020. Starbucks, which has been in the Chinese market since 1999, is now looking at bringing in a partner or a partial sale of its business in the country.

On June 30, Luckin opened its first two cafes in the United States, Starbucks’ home market. Both are located in New York City. The stores are an important milestone in the firm’s globalization strategy, a manager told Yicai previously.

“Looking ahead, we remain committed to expanding our market share,” Guo noted. “Backed by our scale advantage, continuing product innovation, and deep user insights, we are well-positioned to navigate evolving market conditions with agility.

“We believe these capabilities will drive sustainable, high-quality long-term growth and further reinforce our market leadership,” he added.

Editor: Futura Costaglione