BEIJING, China – Luckin Coffee Inc. yesterday issued the following responses to the allegations contained in an anonymous report (the “Report”), which was made public on January 31, 2020.
Luckin Coffee categorically denies all allegations in the Report. The methodology of the Report is flawed, the evidence is unsubstantiated, and the allegations are unsupported speculations and malicious interpretations of events.
The Report also attacks members of Luckin Coffee’s management team, shareholders, and business partners and its claims are either false, misleading or entirely irrelevant.
Furthermore, the company believes that the Report demonstrates a fundamental misunderstanding of the Company’s business model and operating environment. Luckin Coffee intends to take appropriate actions to defend itself against these malicious allegations and to protect the interests of its shareholders.
In particular, Luckin Coffee responded to the following misleading and false allegations raised in the Report in the following:
- The Report alleged the number of items per store per day was inflated in 2019 3Q and 4Q. There are material inconsistencies between the unsubstantiated data presented in the Report and the actual data from the Company’s own system. Every single order that customers placed with Luckin Coffee is online and automatically recorded in its system, and payments for orders went through third-party payment service providers. Therefore, all the Company’s key operating data, including the number of items per store per day, items per order and effective selling price, are tracked in real time and can be verified. Luckin Coffee has a robust internal control system over data management to ensure the data integrity and consistency within its system as well as that of its third party partners.
- The Report alleged items per order had declined from 2019 2Q to 2019 4Q and the effective selling price was inflated in 2019 3Q. The sources and authenticity of the alleged customer order receipts in the Report are unsubstantiated and the underlying methodology in the Report is ungrounded. Luckin Coffee’s items per order during the period is substantially higher than the data alleged in the Report. In addition, Luckin Coffee stands by its reported effective selling price, which is true, accurate, and can be verified by Luckin Coffee’s internal system.
- The Report alleged Luckin Coffee overstated advertising expenses and may recycle overstated advertising expenses to inflate revenue in 2019 3Q. The allegation is based on flawed assumptions, and inaccurate and misleading analysis of the Company’s advertising expenses. Luckin Coffee performs a detailed review and cross check of its sales and marketing expenses with underlying evidence and confirms the Company’s reported advertising expenses are true and accurate.
- The Report alleged net revenues from other products were inflated in 2019 3Q. The Report’s reference to value-added-tax (“VAT”) in calculating net revenues from other products represents a clear misunderstanding of the applicable VAT rates for the Company’s non-freshly brewed products and the Report reached an ungrounded allegation based on such flawed and unsupported assumption. All the Company’s orders are tracked in real time and the Company has rigorous internal controls over revenue recognition and reconciliation. Luckin Coffee is in strict compliance with these rigorous controls and is committed to ensure the integrity of its financial reporting.
As a data-driven company, Luckin Coffee is committed to providing full and accurate disclosure to investors and to rebutting any false claims that attempt to undermine confidence in Luckin Coffee’s business, management and results of operations.
Luckin Coffee firmly stands by its business model and is confident in benefiting from the strong growth of China’s coffee market in the future. Luckin Coffee’s pioneering business model has enabled the Company to become the leading and fastest growing player driving coffee consumption in China. Supported by its disruptive new retail model, diversified product portfolio and strong financial position, Luckin Coffee will continue to grow its business, provide a superior customer proposition and deliver sustainable value for its shareholders over the long-term.
