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Alibaba
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Alibaba sees most profitable year since 2021 amid a refocus on e-commerce, AI businesses and rising competition at home

  • Alibaba net income rose 10 per cent to US$11 billion in the 2023 financial year, the first annual results since co-founder Joe Tsai took over as chairman
  • The strong annual results come despite declining profit in the final quarter, which saw non-GAAP net income fall 11 per cent

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Alibaba’s signage atop one of the company’s offices in Beijing on February 6, 2024. Photo: Bloomberg
Ann Caoin ShanghaiandBen Jiangin Beijing
Alibaba Group Holding reported its most profitable financial year since 2021, as revenue beat analysts’ forecasts, signalling that one of China’s largest technology companies is back on a growth path as it refocuses on core business units amid tougher competition at home.
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The e-commerce giant grew net income 10 per cent to 79.7 billion yuan (US$11 billion) in the year through March, beating the 72.5 billion yuan in profit from the previous year despite a decline in the final quarter.
Revenue for the year grew 8 per cent to 941.2 billion yuan, beating the consensus estimate of 939.7 billion yuan, in the first annual results released since co-founder Joe Tsai took over as chairman in September.
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The March quarter results were slightly weaker than the year as a whole. The Hangzhou-based company, which owns the South China Morning Post, grew 7 per cent year on year to 221.9 billion yuan in revenue for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of 219.8 billion yuan. Growth was faster than the 5 per cent seen in the December quarter.

“This quarter’s results demonstrate that our strategies are working and we are returning to growth,” Alibaba CEO Eddie Wu Yongming said in a press release on Tuesday. “Our China and international commerce businesses realised double-digit year-over-year [gross merchandises value] growth through our focus on the customer experience. We are also excited by the accelerated growth of customers and cloud computing revenues related to our AI products.”

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