Covid-19 hits Alibaba's profit, posts 88 percent decline

Alibaba Group Holding Limited reported revenue of 114,314 million Chinese yuan (16,144 million dollars), an increase of 22 percent year-over-year for the quarter ended March 31, 2020. However, the group’s net income attributable to ordinary shareholders was 3,162 million Chinese yuan (447 million dollars), a decrease of 88 percent and net income was 348 million Chinese yuan (49 million dollars), a decrease of 99 percent year-over year. The company’s diluted earnings per share were 0.14 Chinese yuan (2 cents or 0.15 Hong Kong dollar) and non-GAAP diluted earnings per share were 1.15 Chinese yuan (16 cents or 1.26 Hong Kong dollar), an increase of 7 percent.

“Alibaba achieved the historic milestone of 1 trillion dollars in GMV across our digital economy this fiscal year,” said Daniel Zhang, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Alibaba Group, adding, “Our overall business continued to experience strong growth, with a total annual active consumer base of 960 million globally, despite concluding the fiscal year with a quarter impacted by the economic effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Review of Alibaba’s first quarter results

Alibaba’s annual active consumers on China retail marketplaces reached 726 million, an increase of 15 million from the 12-month period ended December 31, 2019, while mobile MAUs reached 846 million in March 2020, an increase of 22 million over December 2019.

The company added that income from operations was 7,131 million Chinese yuan (1,007 million dollars), a decrease of 19 percent, primarily due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. Adjusted EBITDA increased 1 percent to 25,440 million Chinese yuan (3,593 million dollars), while non-GAAP net income was 22,287 million Chinese yuan (3,148 million dollars), an increase of 11 percent. Diluted earnings per ADS were 1.16 Chinese yuan (16 cents) and non-GAAP diluted earnings per ADS were 9.20 Chinese yuan (1.30 dollars), an increase of 7 percent.

Highlights of Alibaba’s full year financial performance

In the fiscal year ended March 31, 2020, Alibaba reported revenue of 509,711 million Chinese yuan (71,985 million dollars), an increase of 35 percent, while annual active consumers for the Alibaba Digital Economy reached 960 million globally, including 780 million consumers in China and 180 million consumers outside China. Annual active consumers on China retail marketplaces reached 726 million, an increase of 72 million from the 12-month period ended March 31, 2019, while mobile MAUs on China retail marketplaces reached 846 million in March 2020, an increase of 125 million over March 2019. GMV transacted in the Alibaba Digital Economy was 7,053 billion Chinese yuan (1 trillion dollars) for fiscal year 2020, which mainly included China retail marketplaces GMV of 6,589 billion Chinese yuan (945 billion dollars), as well as international retail marketplaces and local consumer services GMV.

Income from operations was 91,430 million Chinese yuan (12,912 million dollars), an increase of 60 percent, while adjusted EBITDA, increased 29 percent to 157,659 million Chinese yuan (22,266 million dollars). Net income attributable to ordinary shareholders was 149,263 million Chinese yuan (21,080 million dollars), and net income was 140,350 million Chinese yuan (19,821 million dollars), while non-GAAP net income was 132,479 million Chinese yuan (18,710 million dollars), an increase of 42 percent year-over-year.

Diluted earnings per ADS were 55.93 Chinese yuan (7.90 dollars) and non-GAAP diluted earnings per ADS were 52.98 Chinese yuan (7.48 dollars), an increase of 38 percent. The company further said that diluted earnings per share were 6.99 Chinese yuan (99 cents or 7.65 Hong Kong dollars) and non-GAAP diluted earnings per share were 6.62 Chinese yuan (93 cents or 7.25 Hong Kong dollars), an increase of 38 percent year-over-year.

Picture:Alibaba media resources