China’s Luckin Coffee Inc lifted its revenues by a half during the third quarter as the chain recorded more than 3000 net new stores.

For the quarter ended September 30, total net revenues increased 50.2 per cent year-on-year to RMB15.287 billion (US$2.14 billion), primarily driven by a 48.1 per cent increase in gross merchandise value. This followed a 47 per cent growth in the second quarter.

Net new store openings were 3008, including 2979 stores in China, five in Singapore, 21 in Malaysia and three in the US. The chain ended the quarter with 29,214 stores, with 18,882 self-operated stores and 10,332 partnership locations.

Same-store sales for self-operated stores were up 14.4 per cent, while average monthly transacting customers grew 40.6 per cent.

Luckin co-founder and CEO Jinyi Guo attributed the positive results to the company’s scale-driven strategy.

“Our expanding store network has enhanced our fulfilment capabilities, enabling us to capture rising customer demand and achieve a major milestone of surpassing 100 million average monthly transacting customers for the first time. These achievements further reinforced our competitive edge and market leadership,” Guo said.

On the bottom line, operating income rose 12.9 per cent to RMB1.776 billion, but net income decreased 2.7 per cent to RMB1.278 billion.