Alibaba surprises as income surges 44pc to 47b yuan

Alibaba (9988) yesterday announced an unaudited revenue of 155.06 billion yuan (HK$181.89 billion) for the three months ended September 30, a 30 percent year-on-year increase.

The company's non-GAAP net income was 47.09 billion yuan, a beyond-expectation increase of 44 percent year-on-year.

Net income attributable to ordinary shareholders was 28.77 billion yuan, with a net income of 26.52 billion yuan, which represented a decrease of 60 percent and 63 percent respectively compared to the previous period, as it booked a one-time gain upon the receipt of the 33 percent equity interest in Ant Group.

Annual active consumers in the China retail market reached 757 million for the twelve months ended September 30, representing a quarterly net increase of 15 million.

Small online physical goods GMV, excluding unpaid orders, grew 21 percent year-on-year during the September quarter while fast-moving consumer goods remained to be the fastest-growing Tmall category, primarily driven by the strength of food and beverage, health care, beauty and personal care.

The growth rate of Taobao online physical goods GMV, excluding unpaid orders, was in the high-teens for the last quarter compared to the previous period.

Alibaba's US stocks in the pre-market opening period fell by 2.61 percent to HK$288 as of 9pm last night.

Meanwhile, Chinese government data showed that Shenzhen Tenpay Network Finance Microfinance, fully owned by Tencent (0700), increased its registered capital by 150 percent from 1 billion yuan to 2.5 billion yuan on Wednesday.

Tencent said yesterday that the capital increase was initiated in August and the regulatory filing was completed in October, which is a normal adjustment of the company's capital, according to Reuters.