The Alibaba Group posted revenues of 205.7 billion yuan renmimbi (€26.9bn-$31.9bn) in the first quarter of its financial year, ended June 30, an increase of 34 percent on the year earlier but below analyst expectations of a top line of at least RMB 209 billion (€27.3bn-$32.3bn) and lower than the 64 percent growth rate seen the previous quarter. Excluding the recent acquisition of the Chinese supermarket chain Sun Art, revenues were up by 22 percent to RMB 187.3 billion (€24.5bn-$29.0bn).
The number of annual active consumers of the Alibaba ecosystem reached about 1.18 billion, an increase of 45 million from the previous quarter. This includes 912 million consumers in China and 265 million consumers overseas, served by the subsidiaries Lazada, AliExpress, Trendyol and Daraz.
Alibaba’s reported net attributable income decreased by 5 percent to RMB 45.1 billion (€5.9bn-$7.0bn). On an adjusted basis, net income rose by 10 percent to RMB 43.4 billion (€5.7bn-$6.7bn).
Free cash flow fell to RMB 20.7 billion (€2.7bn-$3.2bn), down from RMB 36.6 billion the year earlier mainly due to the partial settlement in the amount of RMB 9.1 billion (€1.2bn-$1.4bn) of a RMB 18.2 billion antitrust fine. That fine led Alibaba to report an attributable net loss of RMB 5.5 billion in the fourth quarter.
The company announced it is hiking its share buyback program to $15 billion from a previous $10 billion, making for the largest share buyback in the company’s history. Analysts said the move appears designed to reassure investors amid concerns about increasing regulatory pressure on Chinese tech companies.
