Top Tech: Founder’s Scandal Takes Spotlight at JD.com Earnings Call

At the JD.com Inc. earnings call on Monday, analysts appeared to be more interested in the development of a scandal involving its founder.

Richard Liu attended his first earnings call after being arrested on rape allegations in the U.S. in August, but didn’t respond to questions about the scandal. A company executive responded during the call that JD.com couldn’t comment on an ongoing legal case, and that the incident hasn’t had any “material impact” on the company’s business.

Liu was arrested in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on suspicion of felony rape, but was released 18 hours later without posting bail. City police concluded their investigation and gave their findings to prosecutors in late September for possible charges.

Liu also addressed concerns about his future role in the company, as the market is worried that many internet giants are too closely tied to their founders, and investors are worried about what will happen when they leave or if they were to become embroiled in scandals.

According to Liu, his management team is capable of handling day-to-day operations while he himself will focus on exploring new businesses and formulating the group’s strategies going forward.

China’s second-largest e-commerce company saw net income in the third fiscal quarter nearly triple to 3 billion yuan ($432 million) from the same period a year ago, as it raked in long-term investment gains from its stake in the British luxury platform Farfetch.

Revenue rose 25% to 104.8 billion yuan, but it’s the lowest quarterly revenue growth since its initial public offering in 2014.

Shares of Nasdaq-listed JD.com closed up 8.42% to $21.11 on Monday after the results were released.

The following is an updated table of Chinese technology company earnings between July and September, starting with the most recent to report.

Contact reporter Tang Ziyi (ziyitang@caixin.com)