99 says that the majority of deliveries with more than a year of operation make a profit
General Director of 99 in Brazil states that operations launched more than a year ago are profitable, but the business as a whole still requires high investments.
BY THE X-TRADER NEWS NEWSROOM · REPORTING FROM ESTADÃO · 2 MIN
99 states that the majority of delivery operations launched more than a year ago are already profitable. According to Estadão, the statement was made by Simeng Wang, general director of the company in Brazil, who did not risk predicting when the service as a whole will make a profit.
The platform returned to food delivery in April 2025. Since then, the Chinese group Didi, which controls 99, announced R$3 billion in investments in the segment. Today 99Food is present in around 150 cities.
The executive himself recognizes that the national aggregate is still going through a phase of high investments, largely due to expansion into new locations. In other words, profitability appears first in the oldest operations, while the group continues to be formed.
In the interview with Broadcast, Wang said that the high investment should continue until the operation covers the entire Brazil and each city reaches maturity. For now, no deadline has been given for delivery as a whole to become profitable.
The case illustrates the logic of competing for scale: the company accepts a period of high spending to occupy cities before consolidating margins. The question that remains is when this account will close, since, until then, growth depends on contributions from the controller.
What changes for the investor
The data released comes from a statement from the company itself, without detailed figures on the profitability of operations. In the information collected, there is no reference to assets traded on the stock exchange linked to the operation, which limits the reading for those who invest. For the sector, the sign is that delivery continues as a dispute over capital and scale, with high investments and no defined deadline for overall profit. This pace may put pressure on competitors with less cash, but the concrete effect on the market depends on new city and investment announcements, which do not yet have defined developments.
Automatically translated from Portuguese.
