May. 3 (NBD) -- China's online retailer of beauty products Jumei International Holding Ltd. ("Jumei") unveiled its 2017 annual report on Monday, announcing that it will buy back up to 100 million U.S. dollars of shares over the next 12 months.

According to the report, the gross merchandise volume of the company in 2017 reached 6.6 billion yuan (1.04 billion U.S. dollars), with net income of 5.684 million U.S. dollars. Its active users totaled 15.05 million, while the total orders amounted to 63.55 million, a year-on-year rise of 3.4 percent.

Jumei's share repurchase plan came on the same day of the release of the report and it is expected to boost the depressed stock price.

In February 2016, Jumei launched a privatization bid 22 months after its listing in the Nasdaq Stock Market, to acquire stakes at price of 7 U.S. dollars per ADS.

However, the privatization bid was rejected by the company's investors and shareholders. Peter Halesworth, share holder of Jumei, fired shots in an open letter in 2017, saying that as China's online shipping sector booms, Jumei's mistakes made after the bid caused a 45.2 percent plunge of share price.

On last Novermber, the company agreed to withdraw its bid and its stock price fell to 2 U.S. dollars.

The company saw its market value shrink drastically during its privatization.

It is noted that the company didn't publish any quarterly report or hold any analyst teleconference within this period. Besides, its investments in sharing portable battery, air purifiers, TV dramas and films and other projects are criticized by public and U.S. investment institution.

But Leo Chen, founder and CEO of Jumei, is bullish on the sharing portable battery field and invested 44.8 million U.S. dollars in the portable charger maker Ankerbox. He noted that the orders volume from the portable charger business has surpassed that from the online shopping platform jumei.com. The portable battery business, the value of which is now significantly underestimated, helps the platform increase traffic and strengthen its brand, Chen said.

Email: zhanglingxiao@nbd.com.cn