Alibaba's profits seen rising 32pc

Alibaba's (9988) net profit is expected to rise 32 percent year-on-year and the company will announce its annual results on Thursday, while its affiliate Ant Group became one of the first major privately run businesses to work with China's digital currency trials.

MYbank - an online-only bank in which Ant has a 30 percent share - is allowing some users to link their accounts with China's digital yuan app, mainland media said yesterday.

The move is expected to have a limited impact on Ant Group's business, as well as its initial public offering process, after Beijing imposed a restructuring on the titan, said Kenny Ng Lai-yin, a securities strategist from Everbright Sun Hung Kai.

The previous overhaul, including Ant turning itself into a financial holding firm, wiped out most market uncertainties about Ant's future valuation and development path, Ng said. He expects the process of yuan digitalization could be shortened via leveraging private companies' existing databases.

Separately, Alibaba's founder Jack Ma showed up at an Ali Day, Alibaba's annual thanksgiving event, held at the group's Hangzhou headquarters.

A photo circulating on the internet showed Ma wearing a blue T-shirt and white pants, looking thin and graying at the temples. A netizen commented that "Ma has aged a lot."