- E-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding said it posted a 124 percent increase in profit and strong domestic retail sales in the June quarter.
E-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding said it closely monitors the latest shift in US government policy towards Chinese companies after the company posted a 124 percent increase in profit and strong domestic retail sales in the June quarter.
“Today we are facing uncertainties not just from the global pandemic but also growing tensions between the US and China,” Alibaba Chairman and Chief Executive Daniel Zhang Yong said in a conference call with investors on Thursday, after announcing the company’s latest financial results.
“As the largest e-commerce site in the world, Alibaba’s primary commercial focus in the US is to help American brands, distributors, small businesses, and farmers to sell to Chinese customers and trading partners, as well as other key markets around the world.”
Zhang, who described the current situation as “very fluid,” said Alibaba “carefully and thoroughly assessed the situation and any potential impact, and will take the necessary measures to comply with any new regulations.”
The ongoing Speculation is that Alibaba, the South China Morning Post’s parent company, could be next on Washington’s hit list recently surfaced, as US President Donald Trump said on Saturday after short video device operator TikTok that he could put pressure on more Chinese companies.
In the first quarter of its new financial year, Hangzhou-based Alibaba reported a 34 percent increase in revenue to 153.7 billion yuan ( US$ 21.8 billion ), up from 114.9 billion yuan in the same period a year ago, backed by robust sales at its China online retail and cloud computing businesses. That was ahead of Bloomberg’s 148 billion yuan consensus compiled from analyst estimates.
Net income increased 124 percent to 47.6 billion yuan in the quarter ended June 30, from 21.2 billion yuan a year earlier, to beat the 36 billion yuan consensus estimate. It was largely due to a net benefit arising from the quarter-long increase in share prices of Alibaba’s equity investments in publicly traded companies.
In the first quarter of its new financial year, Hangzhou-based Alibaba announced a 34 percent rise in revenue to 153.7 billion yuan ( US$ 21.8 billion ), up from 114.9 billion yuan in the same timeframe a year earlier, backed by strong revenues at its China online shopping and cloud storage businesses.
According to the firm, Alibaba’s core China retail operations – led by Taobao Marketplace and Tmall – accounted for 66 percent, or 101.3 billion yuan, of its June quarter total revenue.
That has been driven by the increasing number of users on these platforms, including those from the less-developed areas of the country. At the end of June, these had 874 million active monthly users, reflecting a net rise of 28 million percent.
For the 12 months ended June 30 annual active consumers on Alibaba’s China retail marketplaces totaled 742 million.
