bodyType

customContents

entityId

printArticlePageQuery

filter

article

body

urlAlias

articleSectionsContent

articleSeoArticle

articleSourceHeaderArticle

contentSchemaRenderContent

contentSubHeadlineContent

contentHeadlineContent

mainImagePrintArticleArticle

authorBlockPrintArticleArticle

contentSponsorTagContent

articlePianoPaywallContent

scmpYoutubeContent

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

query printArticlePageQuery(
  $entityId: String!
  $customContents: [CustomContentInput]
  $bodyType: BodyFormatTypeEnum
) {
  article(filter: {entityId: $entityId}) {
    entityId
    body(customContents: $customContents, type: $bodyType) {
      json
    }
    urlAlias
    ...articleSectionsContent
    ...articleSeoArticle_3o8td4
    ...articleSourceHeaderArticle
    ...contentSchemaRenderContent
    ...contentSubHeadlineContent
    ...contentHeadlineContent
    ...mainImagePrintArticleArticle
    ...authorBlockPrintArticleArticle
    ...contentSponsorTagContent
    ...articlePianoPaywallContent
    ...scmpYoutubeContent
    ...hooksTrackPageViewArticle
    id
  }
}

fragment articlePianoPaywallContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  ...hooksPaywallPromiseContent
}

fragment articleSectionsContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  sections {
    value {
      ...helpersCheckIfNewsSectionInFirstIndexSection
      ...entityLink
      name
      id
    }
  }
}

fragment articleSeoArticle_3o8td4 on Article {
  ...hooksArticleSeoArticle
  ...helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle
  ...helpersGetArticleTypeArticle
  entityId
  publishedDate
  updatedDate
  summary {
    text
  }
  subHeadline {
    text
  }
  body(customContents: $customContents, type: $bodyType) {
    text
  }
  keywords
  sections {
    value {
      name
      id
    }
  }
  topics {
    name
    entityId
    id
  }
  urlAlias
  authors {
    name
    id
  }
  images {
    style(filter: {style: "768x768"}) {
      url
    }
  }
  readingTime
}

fragment articleSourceHeaderArticle on Article {
  urlAlias
  ...entityLink
}

fragment authorBlockPrintArticleArticle on Article {
  ...defaultArticleDateContent
  ...authorNamesArticle
}

fragment authorNameAuthor on Author {
  ...entityLink
  name
  entityUuid
}

fragment authorNamesArticle on Article {
  authorLocations
  authors {
    entityId
    location
    ...authorNameAuthor
    id
  }
}

fragment blockquoteQuoteContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  ...contentShareWidgetContent
}

fragment checkersCheckContentContainsStarlingImageContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  topics {
    entityId
    id
  }
}

fragment contentHeadlineContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  headline
  socialHeadline
  ...contentHeadlineTagContent
  ...helpersUseContentSponsorContent
}

fragment contentHeadlineTagContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  ...hooksContentHeadlineTagContent
}

fragment contentNewsletterWidgetContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  topics {
    relatedNewsletters {
      ...helpersMassageToNewsletterItemNewsletter
      id
    }
    id
  }
  sections {
    value {
      relatedNewsletters {
        ...helpersMassageToNewsletterItemNewsletter
        id
      }
      id
    }
  }
  ... on Article {
    relatedNewsletters {
      ...helpersMassageToNewsletterItemNewsletter
      id
    }
  }
}

fragment contentSchemaRenderContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  ...blockquoteQuoteContent
  ...imageContent
  ...inlineWidgetContent
  ...photoGalleryWidgetContent
  ...scmpYoutubeContent
}

fragment contentShareWidgetContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  entityId
  urlAlias
  shortUrl
  socialHeadline
  headline
}

fragment contentSponsorTagContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  ...helpersUseContentSponsorContent
}

fragment contentSubHeadlineContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  subHeadline {
    json
  }
  summary {
    json
  }
  ...contentSchemaRenderContent
}

fragment defaultArticleDateContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  ...hooksArticleDateUtilsContent
}

fragment entityLink on BaseWithApplicationAndUrlAlias {
  __isBaseWithApplicationAndUrlAlias: __typename
  __typename
  entityId
  entityUuid
  urlAlias
  urlRedirect {
    toUrl
    id
  }
  application {
    entityId
    id
  }
  ... on Section {
    fullSectionPath {
      entityId
      id
    }
    parentSection
  }
  ...helpersAppBarVariantBase
  ...helpersApplicationBase
  ...helpersCheckIsPlusArticle
  ...helpersStyleSectionContent
}

fragment helpersAppBarVariantBase on BaseWithApplicationAndUrlAlias {
  __isBaseWithApplicationAndUrlAlias: __typename
  ...helpersCheckIsLiveArticle
  ...helpersCheckIsPlusPage
  ...helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle
  ...helpersCheckIsPostiesPage
  ...helpersCheckIsPostMagazineArticle
  ...helpersCheckIsStyleArticle
  ...helpersSectionContent
  ...helpersStyleSectionContent
}

fragment helpersApplicationBase on BaseWithApplicationAndUrlAlias {
  __isBaseWithApplicationAndUrlAlias: __typename
  ...helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle
  ...helpersCheckIsPostiesPage
  ...helpersCheckIsPlusPage
}

fragment helpersCheckIfNewsSectionInFirstIndexSection on Section {
  name
}

fragment helpersCheckIsAmpEnabledArticle on Article {
  entityId
  types {
    value {
      entityId
      id
    }
  }
  sections {
    value {
      entityId
      id
    }
  }
  disableOffPlatformContent
  sponsorType
  published
  ...helpersCheckIsPlusArticle
  ...helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle
}

fragment helpersCheckIsLiveArticle on Article {
  flattenTypeIds
  liveArticle {
    status
    id
  }
}

fragment helpersCheckIsMainTopicContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  topics {
    entityId
    id
  }
}

fragment helpersCheckIsPlusArticle on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  ... on Article {
    paywallTypes {
      entityUuid
      id
    }
  }
}

fragment helpersCheckIsPlusPage on Page {
  urlAlias
}

fragment helpersCheckIsPostMagazineArticle on Article {
  sections {
    value {
      entityId
      id
    }
  }
}

fragment helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle on Article {
  sections {
    value {
      entityId
      id
    }
  }
}

fragment helpersCheckIsPostiesPage on Page {
  urlAlias
}

fragment helpersCheckIsStyleArticle on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  sections {
    value {
      entityId
      id
    }
  }
}

fragment helpersGetArticleTypeArticle on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  ... on Article {
    types {
      value {
        entityId
        id
      }
    }
  }
}

fragment helpersMassageToNewsletterItemNewsletter on Newsletter {
  entityId
  name
  alternativeName
  description {
    text
  }
  summary {
    text
  }
  homepageDescription {
    text
  }
}

fragment helpersSanitizeArticleTypeEntityIdsArticle on Article {
  types {
    value {
      entityId
      id
    }
  }
}

fragment helpersSanitizeAuthorTypesArticle on Article {
  authors {
    types
    id
  }
}

fragment helpersSanitizedAuthorEntityIdsArticle on Article {
  authors {
    entityId
    id
  }
}

fragment helpersSectionContent on Section {
  fullSectionPath {
    entityId
    id
  }
}

fragment helpersStyleSectionContent on Section {
  fullSectionPath {
    entityId
    id
  }
}

fragment helpersUseContentSponsorContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  topics {
    entityId
    sponsor {
      ...sponsorTagSponsor
      name
      type
      id
    }
    id
  }
  ... on Article {
    sponsorType
  }
  ...helpersCheckIsMainTopicContent
}

fragment hooksArticleDateUtilsContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  createdDate
  publishedDate
  updatedDate
}

fragment hooksArticleSeoArticle on Article {
  ...helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle
  ...helpersCheckIsPostMagazineArticle
  ...helpersCheckIsStyleArticle
  ...hooksContentHeadlineTagContent
  ...helpersCheckIsAmpEnabledArticle
  entityId
  headline
  socialHeadline
  types {
    value {
      entityId
      id
    }
  }
  authors {
    entityId
    id
  }
  images {
    generic_og: style(filter: {style: "og_image_scmp_generic"}) {
      url
    }
    styles(filter: {styles: ["og_image_posties_article", "og_postmag", "og_image_style", "og_image_scmp_analysis", "og_image_scmp_explainer", "og_image_scmp_editorial", "og_image_scmp_fact_check", "og_image_scmp_debate", "og_image_scmp_live", "og_image_scmp_obituary", "og_image_scmp_opinion", "og_image_scmp_review", "og_image_scmp_series", "og_image_scmp_generic"]}) {
      url
      style
    }
    type
  }
  urlAlias
}

fragment hooksContentHeadlineTagContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  __typename
  ... on Article {
    types {
      value {
        name
        entityId
        description {
          text
        }
        id
      }
    }
    ...helpersCheckIsStyleArticle
  }
  flag
  sections {
    value {
      name
      id
    }
  }
  ...hooksContentHelperContent
}

fragment hooksContentHelperContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  ...helpersSanitizeArticleTypeEntityIdsArticle
  ...helpersSanitizeAuthorTypesArticle
  ...helpersSanitizedAuthorEntityIdsArticle
  flag
}

fragment hooksPaywallPromiseContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  entityId
  ...helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle
}

fragment hooksTrackPageViewArticle on Article {
  entityId
  publishedDate
  headline
  sections {
    value {
      name
      id
    }
  }
  urlAlias
  authors {
    name
    id
  }
  entityUuid
}

fragment imageContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  headline
  ...checkersCheckContentContainsStarlingImageContent
}

fragment inlineWidgetContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  ...contentNewsletterWidgetContent
}

fragment mainImagePrintArticleArticle on Article {
  images {
    title
    url
    isSlideshow
    size_652x446: style(filter: {style: "652x446"}) {
      url
    }
  }
}

fragment photoGalleryDialogContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  __typename
  ...contentShareWidgetContent
}

fragment photoGalleryWidgetContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  ...photoGalleryDialogContent
}

fragment scmpYoutubeContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  entityId
  urlAlias
  publishedDate
}

fragment sponsorTagSponsor on Sponsor {
  name
  type
  images {
    url
  }
}


sections

types

disableOffPlatformContent

sponsorType

published

headline

socialHeadline

authors

images

publishedDate

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

keywords

topics

readingTime

authorLocations

entityUuid

Minghe Hu

Alibaba Group Holding Limited swung to a loss in its final quarter after swallowing a record fine by China’s antitrust regulators, but reported sales that surpassed forecasts as retail consumption in its home market grew with China’s recovery from the coronavirus pandemic.
The company reported a loss of 7.65 billion yuan (US$1.185 billion), after accounting for 18.2 billion yuan in fines to the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR). Sales jumped 64 per cent to 187.4 billion yuan for the three months ended March, in line with analysts’ estimates.
Full-year revenue rose 41 per cent to 717.3 billion yuan. The company, which owns this newspaper, had projected full-year revenue to jump 82 per cent to a record 930 billion yuan, as consumption in its home market mostly recovered from the coronavirus pandemic. The strong results propelled Hangzhou-based Alibaba, which operates e-payment services, cloud computing and the world’s largest online shopping platforms, to its most profitable year since its establishment 21 years ago in the apartment of former English teacher Jack Ma.

“Revenue was ahead, with customer management revenue broadly in line with expectations, but a larger-than-expected step-up in investment led to a material adjusted Ebita [earnings before interest, taxes, and amortisation] miss,” Atlantic Equities analyst James Cordwell told Bloomberg. Cordwell has an overweight rating on Alibaba.
Alibaba chairman and chief executive Daniel Zhang Yong was keen to play up growth in consumers amid the pandemic.
“We have gone through all kinds of challenges, including Covid-19, fierce competition, as well as the anti-monopoly investigation,” Zhang said in an earnings call with analysts, noting that the company reached the milestone of one billion annual active customers. “We plan to invest all of our incremental profits in the coming year into core strategic areas such as technology innovation, support for merchants to lower their operating costs, user acquisition and experience enhancement.”

The stronger-than-expected financial earnings show how one of China’s largest home-grown technology companies has managed to emerge from nearly half a year of regulatory scrutiny by SAMR, which began last Christmas Eve and ended in a record fine on April 10. The company, which earned a fourth-quarter profit of 3.2 billion yuan in the previous financial year, said it would pay the penalty out of its financial reserves.
Active consumers on the company’s e-commerce retail platforms rose 41 per cent in Alibaba’s last financial year to 811 million users, beating the 788.4 million customers at Pinduoduo, and helping to bolster the annual gross merchandise volume (GMV) to a record US$1.2 trillion. The company aims to grow its customer base to surpass 1 billion by the end of this financial year.
Alibaba is China’s largest provider of cloud computing services, competing with Amazon, Microsoft and Tencent Holdings. The division’s revenue grew 50 per cent last year to 60.12 billion yuan, driven by customers in the internet, public sector and financial industries, with the quarter’s growth increasing 37 per cent to 16.76 billion, Alibaba said.
Alibaba “remains committed to investment in globalisation and the enterprise internet, which could drive long-term revenue and earnings growth, ” Huatai Securities wrote in a research report.

Alibaba’s shares have fallen by about a third since its record in late October, just before China’s regulators abruptly halted the US$35 billion initial public offering (IPO) by its Ant Group affiliate. Since then, the company had been under a cloud of antitrust investigations, with official probes kicking off on Christmas Eve and culminating in the fine on Alibaba last month.
In a sign that the worst may be over, Ant Group - the world’s largest fintech company by value before its IPO was pulled - had its financial license renewed today by the People’s Bank of China. Alibaba’s founder Ma, the controlling shareholder of Ant Group, made a rare public appearance three days earlier at Alibaba’s campus in Hangzhou during the company’s family day. Ma retired as Alibaba’s chairman in 2019 on his 55th birthday.
“The penalty decision [by SAMR] has motivated us to reflect on the relationship between the platform economy and society, “ said Zhang, who took over from Ma, on the company’s earnings call. “As well as our social responsibilities and commitments we believe that the self reflection and adjustments we’ve made, will help us better serve our community of consumers, merchants and our partners into the future.”
Zhang acknowledged on the call that the SAMR penalty had resulted in an operating loss for the quarter, the first in Alibaba’s history as a public company.
“The increase in revenue came mainly from Alibaba’s existing channels and platforms, but it is facing fierce competition now from the likes of Pinduoduo and JD.com,” said Li Chengdong, chief executive of e-commerce consultancy Dolphin Think Tank. “It could lose its edge easily. Besides, the showdown over the anti-monopoly investigation is not over yet, so there’s still uncertainty.”
Alibaba’s share price has dropped 8 per cent since the start of the year, closing at HK$213.2 in Hong Kong on Thursday before the latest quarterly results were announced. Alibaba’s US-listed shares were down about 3 per cent at US$213.3 in early New York trading on Thursday.
Additional reporting by Bloomberg


Alibaba posts first quarterly loss in nine years after US$2.8 billion antitrust fine, spoiling the sales surge on consumer recovery

A giant screen showing the gross merchandise volume transacted during Alibaba's Singles’ Day online shopping festival on November 12, 2020. Photo: Xinhua

People walk towards the Alibaba Group Holdings Ltd. headquarters in Hangzhou, China, on Wednesday, March 24, 2021. China's government has proposed establishing a joint venture with local technology giants that would oversee the lucrative data they collect from hundreds of millions of consumers, according to people familiar with the matter. Photographer: Qilai Shen/Bloomberg

=== PHOTO CAPTURED FROM WEIBO === Alibaba Group Holding's founder Jack Ma, seen at the company's corporate headquarters on AliDay on May 10, 2021. 10MAY21 WEIBO

(190124) -- DAVOS (SWITZERLAND), Jan. 24, 2019 (Xinhua) -- Daniel Zhang, CEO of Alibaba Group, speaks with World Economic Forum (WEF) Founder and Executive Chairman Klaus Schwab (not in the picture) at a conversation during the 49th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, on Jan. 24, 2019. Attended by over 60 heads of state or government, 40 international organization heads and 1,700 business leaders, the four-day WEF annual meeting kicked off on Tuesday. (Xinhua/Xu Jinquan)

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Sales increased 64 per cent to 187.4 billion yuan, beating forecasts
The company swung to a loss of 7.65 billion yuan, after paying out US$2.8 billion in fines to the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR)



The fourth-quarter results propelled Hangzhou-based Alibaba, which operates e-payment services, cloud computing and the world’s largest online shopping platforms, to its most profitable year since it was formed 21 years ago.


Alibaba

Hong Kong company reporting season

China technology

Alibaba posts first quarterly loss in nine years after US$2.8 billion antitrust fine, spoiling the sales surge on consumer recovery

Sales increased 64 per cent to 187.4 billion yuan, beating forecasts The company swung to a loss of 7.65 billion yuan, after paying out US$2.8 billion in fines to the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR)

Sales increased 64 per cent to 187.4 billion yuan, beating forecasts

The company swung to a loss of 7.65 billion yuan, after paying out US$2.8 billion in fines to the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR)