(CapitalWatch, June 17, New York) Chinese pharma retailer 111 Inc. (Nasdaq: YI) released its financial results for the first quarter after markets closed Thursday, sending shares 3% higher after-hours.

The company reported revenue of $470.5 million for the three months through March, up 15% year-over-year. Net loss narrowed 40% from a year ago to $15.9 million, according to the report.

"Despite all the challenges from pandemic lock-down in various parts of the country, we continued to grow our top line and gross segment profit in the first quarter of 2022, which brought us another step closer to profitability," Junling Liu, the co-founder, chairman, and CEO of 111 Inc. said in the statement today.

Gross segment profit, which stands for net revenues less cost of goods sold, grew 66% year-over-year. Of that, the B2B segment increased by nearly 91%, 111 Inc. said. The company also continued to grow its network of partnerships with pharma companies – the number increased to 550.

Liu said, "Our operation efficiency also improved and total operating expenses as a percentage of net revenues decreased to 9.9% in this quarter as compared to 11.1% in the same quarter of last year."

He continued, "We expect this momentum in improving operation efficiency to continue as we scale, putting us on a clear path to profitability."

The company did not, however, provide guidance for the second quarter in a sign of continued market instability and continued Covid-19 lockdown woes.

Shares in YI are set to open Friday 1% higher from yesterday's close, at $1.90 apiece. On Thursday, YI tumbled along with the broad market downtrend, closing 11% down, at $1.88 per share. The average trading volume in YI sits at 973,000.