Online sales growth boosts Alibaba Q1 revenue by 56pc
HONG KONG: Alibaba, China’s top e-commerce firm, beat analyst’s estimates with a 56 per cent rise in first-quarter revenue, driven by growth in online sales which make up most of its business.
Yesterday’s results show that Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, one of Asia’s most valuable companies, is benefiting from more and more Chinese buying an increasing proportion of everything from food to clothing to luxury items online.
Alibaba’s stock is up by more than 81 per cent this year, lifted by steady increases in revenue for its commerce business and strong growth in its cloud computing and entertainment units, even as investments in offline stores are yet to pay off.
Revenue rose to 50.1 billion yuan (RM32.2 billion) for the three months ended June 30, compared with analysts’ average estimate of 47.7 billion yuan, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
“Our technology is driving significant growth across our business and strengthening our position beyond core commerce,” chief executive Daniel Zhang said in a statement.
Revenue from Alibaba’s core e-commerce business made up 86 per cent of total revenue in the three months to June 30, up from 73 per cent in the same period a year prior.
In the cloud business, revenue grew 96 per cent in the quarter to 2.4 billion yuan, with total paying customers breaking the one million mark for the first time. Reuters