Get 40% Off
🤯 This Tech Portfolio is up 29% YTD! Join Now to Get April’s Top PicksGet The Picks – Just 99 USD

Alibaba beats on earnings as e-commerce remains core revenue driver

Published 08/17/2017, 08:56 PM
Updated 08/17/2017, 08:56 PM
© Reuters. A sign of Alibaba Group is seen at CES Asia 2016 in Shanghai

© Reuters. A sign of Alibaba Group is seen at CES Asia 2016 in Shanghai

By Cate Cadell

BEIJING (Reuters) - Alibaba , China's top e-commerce firm, beat analyst estimates with a 56 percent rise in first-quarter revenue, driven by strong online sales.

Thursday's results show that Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (N:BABA), one of Asia's most valuable companies, continues to derive the lion's share of its revenue from e-commerce, despite strong growth in its entertainment and cloud businesses.

Sales on the company's e-commerce platforms made up 86 percent of revenue in the three months to June 30, up from 73 percent a year prior.

Alibaba's stock is up more than 81 percent this year, buoyed by company predictions of strong full-year revenue growth of between 45 and 49 percent.

Chief Executive Daniel Zhang also confirmed the company led a $1.1 billion investment in Southeast Asian retailer Tokopedia, adding to its expanding network of assets in the region.

In June, Alibaba invested a further $1 billion in Singapore-based e-commerce platform Lazada Group. It has also targeted new merchants in Russia and the United States as part of a wider plan to boost revenues and attract new customers outside China.

During a call with analysts on Thursday, executives said the firm expects a more meaningful contribution from offline initiatives as part of its so-called "new retail" strategy.

Alibaba, though, has yet to prove the value of several recent large-scale offline investments, according to analysts, including a $2.6 billion infusion into department store chain Intime Retail Group Co Ltd.

"At least for now we don't see any full integration between offline and online (technology) and that's a problem," said Pacific Epoch senior analyst Steven Zhu.

"If you don't have full integration then new retail remains a concept rather than reality."

Alibaba's revenue rose to 50.1 billion yuan ($7.51 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.

In the cloud business, revenue grew by 96 percent in the quarter to 2.4 billion yuan, with paying customers breaking the 1 million mark for the first time, up from 577,000 a year earlier.

Alibaba's cloud business boosted its global data centers to 17 during the first quarter, with the addition of two centers in India and Indonesia.

Revenue in the entertainment business rose by 30 percent to 4 billion yuan.

Net income attributable to the company's shareholders nearly doubled to $2.17 billion, or 83 cents per share.

© Reuters. A sign of Alibaba Group is seen at CES Asia 2016 in Shanghai

Shares of Chinese e-commerce firms, including Alibaba.com and JD.com Inc (O:JD), have outperformed the market in 2017, buoyed by positive revenue growth around June sales events and overseas expansion.

Latest comments

Risk Disclosure: Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.
© 2007-2024 - Fusion Media Limited. All Rights Reserved.