Alibaba quarterly revenue jumps 40 per cent ahead of Singles’ Day shopping festival
- The e-commerce giant’s revenue for the quarter ended September 30 reached US$16.6 billion, beating estimates
New York-listed Alibaba on Friday posted better-than-expected revenue of 119 billion yuan (US$16.6 billion) in its fiscal second quarter, up from 85.1 billion yuan a year ago. That improvement was made on the back of strong sales at its China retail platforms and growth in annual active consumers, despite a slowdown in the domestic economy and a protracted trade war with the United States.
Net income jumped 262 per cent to 72.5 billion yuan in the same quarter, beating analysts’ estimates as it recognised a one-time gain of 69.2 billion yuan from becoming a 33 per cent equity stakeholder in Ant Financial Services.
“Our digital economy continues to thrive and prosper,” said Daniel Zhang Yong, executive chairman and chief executive of Alibaba, in a statement. “We aim to serve over one billion annual active consumers and help our merchants achieve over 10 trillion yuan in annual gross merchandise volume by end of fiscal 2024.”
Alibaba’s financial results are seen as a bellwether of consumer spending in the world’s most populous country and important barometer of its economic health.