Alibaba sees net loss as antitrust fine hits earnings
Loss from Alibaba’s operations was 7.66bn yuan as a result of the fine
Alibaba saw a net loss in its fiscal fourth quarter led by a massive antitrust fine it received last month, but revenue beat expectations.
Alibaba swung to a net loss in the March quarter of 5.47bn yuan ($848m). The market had expected a net profit of 6.95bn yuan, according to Refinitiv estimates.
But the Chinese e-commerce giant reported revenue of 187.39bn yuan ($28.6b) versus 180.41bn yuan estimated by Refinitiv analysts. This was up 64% on the year.
Earnings per share was at 10.32 yuan compared to 11.12 yuan per share estimated, up 12% on the year.
Regulatory scrutiny
Alibaba has faced scrutiny from regulators in recent times, which started when the $34.5bn initial public offering of Ant Group, its financial technology affiliate, was pulled in November.
Since then, over $240bn of value has been wiped off of Alibaba’s stock – including the record $2.8bn fine it received as a result of an anti-monopoly investigation.
Alibaba said its loss from operations for the year was 7.66bn yuan as a result of the fine. Excluding that, its income from operations would have been 10.56bn yuan, a 48% annual rise.
The company expects to generate revenue of 930bn yuan in its 2022 fiscal year, the equivalent of 29.65% year-on-year growth.
Its US shares were down 0.6% in pre-market trade.
