Online retailer AliExpress Russia said it was possibly looking into an initial public offering after reporting gross merchandise volume (GMV) of nearly $3bn (£2.1bn, €2.5bn) for the 2020-21 financial year.

AliExpress Russia, which operates domestic and cross-border sales, is a joint venture launched in 2019 with China’s e-commerce giant Alibaba and Russian partners.

The company said an IPO was a possible step, but that the decision was one for its shareholders.

“There are no specific plans for the dates – it may be next year or later,” AliExpress Russia said.

Online marketplace booming

The company, which says it now has 29.1 million monthly active users on its online marketplace, did not give a comparison for total GMV, which stood at 229.3bn roubles ($2.96bn, £2.2bn) for the year to 31 March. 

GMV for its domestic business was up 151% year-on-year, at 54.9bn roubles.

The COVID-19 pandemic gave a boost to Russia’s e-commerce sector as lockdowns kept consumers at home, but AliExpress Russia, which depends on cross-border transactions for more than three quarters of its business, was slower to see the benefit due to travel restrictions.

But CEO Dmitry Sergeev said the company’s cross-border business grew in line with Russia’s total e-commerce market and that its domestic business was growing ahead of the market.

AliExpress Russia said it was maintaining its target of annual turnover of $10bn (£7.3bn, €8.4bn) by 2023, a figure first disclosed in July 2020.

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