Alibaba increases share buy-back by US$25 billion as profit and revenue miss estimates
- The Hangzhou-based firm’s net income attributable to ordinary share holders last quarter fell 69 per cent year on year to 14.4 billion yuan
- Revenue rose 5 per cent to 260.35 billion yuan, missing estimates
Net income attributable to ordinary share holders came in at 14.4 billion yuan (US$2.01 billion) in the three months ended December 31, down 69 per cent year on year, the company announced on Wednesday after the close of trading in Hong Kong.
Under non-generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), Alibaba’s net income dropped 4 per cent year-on-year to 47.95 billion yuan in the December quarter.
Revenue rose 5 per cent to 260.35 billion yuan in the quarter, missing the consensus analysts’ estimate of 261.25 billion yuan, and slower than the 9 per cent growth seen in the September quarter. Alibaba owns the South China Morning Post.
Alibaba said it had approved an increase of US$25 billion in its share repurchase programme through the end of March 2027. Following this increase, the e-commerce company will have US$35.3 billion available under the scheme through the next three financial years.
Alibaba’s shares are down about 27 per cent in the past 12 months amid a broad pullback for China technology stocks.
