Carry on shopping: Alibaba defies China slowdown with fourth quarter revenue
Alibaba, the Chinese ecommerce giant, has defied the country's economic slowdown, reporting expectation-busting revenue.
The Amazon of China's sales rose 39 per cent in the fourth quarter to 24.2bn yuan (£2.55bn) smashing estimates of around 23bn yuan, while income came in at 5.3bn yuan, a rise of 81 per cent.
"Whatever they are doing must be working, and most importantly it's a sign that the Chinese consumer may not be weakening quite yet," Wedbush Securities analyst Gil Luria told Reuters.
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The total value of goods traded on the platform hit 742bn yuan, up by nearly a quarter year-on-year for the three months to the end of March and surpassing three trillion for the year for the first time. The majority of that comes from mobile transactions.
"In posting its strongest revenue growth for the past four quarters, Alibaba has rounded off its fiscal year on a positive note. Although growth at the international division picked up strongly, it is China that has underpinned the group’s success," said Neil Saunders, chief of retail analysts Conlumino.
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Saunders cited Alibaba's push into rural areas of the country, customer engagement and partnering with Western brands behind its success.
Alibaba is the biggest ecommerce firm in the world and was the biggest ever IPO when it went public in 2014. US traded shares were up more than four per cent in pre-market trading but remain more than 30 per cent down on all time highs after IPO.