SHANGHAI, Aug 28 Reuters Chinese food delivery giant Meituan posted a bigger than expected 21 rise in secondquarter revenue on Wednesday, defying a slowing Chinese economy.

Meituan, which has an app that provides services as varied as bikesharing, ticketbooking and maps, reported revenue in the three months to June 30 at 82.3 billion yuan 11.55 billion, up from 67.9 billion yuan in the same period a year earlier.

That compared with 81 billion yuan average of analyst estimates compiled by LSEG.

Its total segment operating profit for the second quarter increased from 5.9 billion yuan to 13.9 billion yuan, and the total segment operating margin increased from 8.7 to 16.9.

A lacklustre economic recovery in China has led to more firms pivoting towards lowcost and discounted products in the world39;s secondlargest economy and Meituan has benefitted from delivering these goods for a small fee.

Revenue from core local commerce, which includes food delivery and nonfood delivery service Meituan Instashopping, rose 18.5 to 60.7 billion yuan.

Sales from new initiatives grew by 28.7 yearoveryear to 21.6 billion yuan.

Meituan remains China39;s biggest delivery platform, with a 69 share of the 1 trillion yuan market, according to data from researcher ChinaIRN.

1 7.1257 Chinese yuan renminbi

Reporting by Casey Hall Editing by Jacqueline Wong and David Goodman and Miral Fahmy

Source Reuters