Ontime records double-digit revenue growth on back of business travel

The travel business served as a crucial growth engine for sustained development of Ontime, a major Chinese mobile transportation service provider, in the first half of 2024, according to the company's mid-year financial report.

The company's revenue reached 1.03 billion yuan ($146.17 million) in the first half of the year, a year-on-year increase of 13.6 percent, with growth recorded in its all three core businesses, according to the report.

The report, the first performance announcement issued by the company after its listing on the main board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in July, was released in late August.

As the main source of revenue growth, the company's travel business grew 11.1 percent year-on-year to 879 million yuan in the first six months of 2024, according to the report.

Since the second half of the year, warnings related to the online ride-hailing industry in some cities such as Suzhou in Jiangsu province, Shenzhen in Guangdong province, Nanning in the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region and Qionghai in Hainan province have been issued, with a decline in the average daily income per vehicle for ride-hailing services in many areas.

However, Ontime, with its business focusing on the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, has reported sustained growth in its travel business, with a 12.3 percent increase year-on-year in order volume in the first half of the year.

The report indicated that as of the end of June 2024, the company's platform had about 33.8 million registered passengers, representing a 56.5 percent increase compared to the same period last year.

The company aims to provide customers with comprehensive service options, implement regional expansion strategies, improve the operational efficiency of ride-hailing services, and plans to expand its footprint of ride-hailing and robotaxi services to an international scale.

The company, headquartered in Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong province, launched the world's first open robotaxi operation technology platform in April 2022, aiming to promote the commercial deployment of robotaxi services.

Funds raised through the IPO in the Hong Kong stock market will primarily be used for research and development in autonomous driving and robotaxi operation services, upgrading travel service products and operational efficiency, the company said.