(Yicai) Nov. 15 -- Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com reported a 47.8 percent surge in net profit in the three months ended Sept. 30 from a year earlier thanks to a strong performance in its retail and logistics divisions.

JD.com raked in net profit of CNY11.7 billion (USD1.6 billion) in the third quarter, while revenue advanced 5.1 percent to CNY260.4 billion (USD36 billion), according to the Beijing-based company’s latest earnings report released yesterday.

"We saw an uptick in our topline growth, as well as healthy profitability in the third quarter, as overall consumer sentiment continues to brighten," Chief Executive Officer Sandy Xu said at the earnings call yesterday.

JD.com has been making its prices more competitive over the past 12 months while enhancing services, said Chief Financial Officer lan Su. User numbers sustained double-digit growth in the third quarter and growth is accelerating. The firm expects its user numbers to continue to expand quickly.

The firm's JD Retail segment, which encompasses JD Health, JD Industries and other businesses, reported a 6.1 percent leap in revenue to CNY225 billion (USD31 million). JD Health's profit more than tripled to CNY55.2 million (USD7.6 million), while revenue soared 14.8 percent to CNY13.3 billion.

In terms of JD Retail, shipments of electronics and home appliances climbed 2.7 percent over the period to CNY122.6 billion (USD17 billion), while that of articles of everyday use soared 8 percent to CNY82.1 billion.

Going forward, JD.com will pay more attention to merchandise favored by customers in lower-tier markets, Xu said.

JD Logistics, JD.com’s parcel delivery arm, posted a 6.6 percent jump in revenue in the third quarter from a year earlier to CNY44.4 billion (USD6.1 billion). JD Logistics linked arms with rival Alibaba Group Holdings' e-marketplaces Taobao and Tmall last month to provide courier services on their platforms.

However, earnings at JD.com's new business segments, which mainly include its on-demand retail and delivery platform Dada, JD Property, and overseas businesses, plunged 25.7 percent to CNY5 billion (USD691.4 million).

JD.com’s share price [HKG:9618] closed down 2.1 percent at HKD132.20 (USD17) today.

Editors: Shi Yi, Kim Taylor