epa05290365 (FILE) A file photo dated 04 November 2013 showing an employee walking past a logo of Alibaba Group at its new base on the outskirts of Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, China. Alibaba Group is to release their unaudited financial results for the quarter and fiscal year ended March 31, 2016 on 05 May 2016. EPA/JEFF LEE
BEIJING: Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, China’s biggest e-commerce company, said fourth-quarter revenue rose 39%, beating Wall Street estimates, helped by growth in gross merchandise volume.
The company’s American Depository shares were up 3.5% at US$78.48 on Thursday.
Revenue rose to 24.2 billion yuan (RM14.9bil) in the quarter ended March 31 from 17.4 billion yuan (RM10.7bil) a year earlier, beating the average analyst estimate of 23.22 billion yuan, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
“Whatever they are doing must be working, and most importantly it’s a sign that the Chinese consumer may not be weakening quite yet,” said Gil Luria of Wedbush Securities.
Gross merchandise volume (GMV), or the total value of goods transacted on its platforms on China retail marketplaces, rose 24% to 742 billion yuan (RM456.9bil).
“Alibaba represents a big part of the spend by Chinese consumers and so a re-acceleration in volumes is an indication that the Chinese consumer continues to be strong,” Luria said.
Alibaba has been grappling with a slowdown in the world’s second-largest economy. It is also dealing with signs of maturation after years of breakneck growth for Internet businesses as hundreds of millions of people came online.
To that end, Alibaba has sought to expand into areas outside Chinese e-commerce, and last month said it would buy control of Southeast Asian online retailer Lazada Group for roughly US$1bil.
Alibaba’s mobile GMV continued to grow, accounting for 73% of total GMV, up from 68% in the December quarter.
The number of mobile monthly active users rose 42% to 410 million.
Net income rose to 5.31 billion yuan (RM3.3bil) from 2.87 billion yuan (RM1.8bil) a year earlier.
Non-GAAP net income, Alibaba’s preferred measure for earnings, shrank 1.4% to 7.6 billion yuan (RM4.7bil) from the previous year - its first recorded decline.
Excluding items, the company earned 3.02 yuan per share, missing the average analyst estimate of 3.60 yuan.
Alibaba’s US-listed shares had fallen about 7% this year through Wednesday’s close of US$75.82. - Reuters
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