DALIAN, China -- JD.com's third-quarter net profit plummeted 79.6% on the year to 612.3 million yuan ($85.6 million), hurt by the costs of delivering products to rural customers as it sought to gain on domestic e-commerce leader Alibaba Group Holding.
The black ink fell despite revenue climbing 28.7% to 134.8 billion yuan, a record for the quarter through September, China's second-largest e-tailer reported on Nov. 15. The company's number of active users also grew 9.5% on the year to 334 million as of Sept. 30.
