Vipshop CFO Steps Down, Stock Price Plummets

Vipshop Holdings Ltd. said on Wednesday that Yang Donghao, its chief financial officer, will step down from the position in November 2020 for “personal reasons.” 

The online brand discount retailer announced the news in its unaudited financial report for the second quarter ending June 30. What’s more, Yang will be appointed as a new non-executive director, effective simultaneously with the change of his position. 

Yang has served as the company’s CFO since 2011 and “made significant contributions to the company’s growth and transformation from a privately held company into a publicly listed company with effective internal control and compliance systems in the past nine years,” the report said. 

“I look forward to continuing to serve the company as a non-executive director of the board,” Yang said in the second quarter 2020 earnings conference call script. “I trust that the company is well positioned to further solidify its leading position in China’s discount retail market.” 

In the second quarter ending June 30, the company’s total net revenue increased 6% year over year to 24.1 billion yuan ($3.4 billion) from 22.7 billion yuan in Q2 2019.

Gross merchandise value for the quarter increased by 9% year over year to 38.4 billion yuan from 35.1 billion yuan in the prior year period.

The number of active customers for the quarter increased by 17% year over year to 38.8 million from 33.1 million in Q2 2019.

For the third quarter of 2020, the company expects its total net revenue to be between 20.6 billion yuan and 21.6 billion yuan, representing a year-over-year growth rate of approximately 5% to 10%.

Compared to leading e-commerce giant JD.com Inc.’s single-quarter revenue in excess of 200 billion yuan, Vipshop’s performance seems dismal. Not surprisingly, Vipshop’s performance growth still lags far behind Pinduoduo Inc. and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., and it will start to fall behind in the e-commerce industry, local news outlet reported. 

After the release of the financial report, Vipshop’s stock price plummeted 19.45%, and its market value fell below $13 billion. 

SEE ALSO: Vipshop Q1 Revenue Drops Amid COVID-19 Pandemic but Still Beats Estimates

Launched in 2008 as Vipshop.com, the company was listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 2012. It retails branded products at discount prices online.

As of March 31, 2020, Vipshop founder and CEO Shen Ya holds 12.7% of the shares, the largest shareholder; Hong Xiaobo, the co-founder of Vipshop, holds 6.8%. Tencent Mobility Ltd. holds 9.6% and JD Entities holds 7.5%, according to a US Securities and Exchange Commission document.