China’s e-commerce colossus Alibaba Group Holding Ltd saw its quarterly revenues surge 64% on Thursday, as pandemic-restricted shoppers continued to spend vast sums online.
But that strong performance was overshadowed by Beijing’s regulatory crackdown that resulted in the suspension of a $37 billion IPO of its affiliate Ant Group in December and last month’s $2.8 billion fine for anti-competitive business practices.
The net loss attributable to ordinary shareholders was 5.48 billion yuan, or 1.99 per American depository share (ADS), compared with a profit of 3.16 billion yuan, or 1.16 yuan per ADS, a year earlier.
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Competition from smaller rivals is also heating up, with Pinduoduo Inc overtaking Alibaba to become China’s largest e-commerce platform by users.
Alibaba’s US listed shares have fallen more than 30% since hitting a record high in late October when its founder Jack Ma delivered a speech in Shanghai criticising China’s financial regulators.
Revenue rose to 187.4 billion yuan ($29.03 billion) in the three months ended March 31, higher than 180.41 billion yuan forecast by 30 analysts compiled by Refinitiv.
- Reporting by Reuters
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