Strong performances in the retail business in China and the cloud segment were cited by Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. as main factors driving revenues 54% higher to 53.25 billion yuan ($7.7 billion) in the fiscal third quarter through the end of 2016. The e-commerce giant said on Tuesday that it expects to lift the segment by 53% year over year, compared to 48% from the previous guidance.
The company headquartered in Hangzhou, China, also attributed the improvement to the consolidation of newly acquired firms, mainly Youku Tudou and Lazada, and record volumes during Singles' Day shopping. "We are driving the age of ‘New Retail,’ which leverages big data and innovation to provide a seamless online and offline experience for nearly half a billion mobile monthly active users. This retail transformation will make it even easier and more efficient for brands and retailers to engage with these consumers anywhere, anytime," said Daniel Zhang, chief executive.
Profit rallied 42.9% to 17.86 billion yuan year on year, or from 4.9 to 6.94 yuan per share. The Taobao app added 43 million monthly active users in the three-month period, totaling 493 million at the end of December.
The Singles Day, or Global Shopping Festival, brought 120.7 billion yuan in gross merchandise volume settled through Alipay, where 82% was on mobile. The number of customers of Alibaba's cloud services jumped 114,000 to 765,000 in the quarter, more than doubling revenue to 1.76 billion yuan.
Image: EPA / Long Wei
