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China Alibaba Q1 net profit better than expected

Posted by Aliuser on May 15, 2010 in Alibaba Financial Results

Spurred by an increase in the number of paying members and usage of value-added services, China largest B2B eCommerce platform Alibaba.com (HKSE) reported last Thursday its first-quarter net profit rose 34% from a year earlier to RMB 330.0 million.

Alibaba said in a statement that the growth was primarily due to the increase in the number of China Gold Supplier members and revenue from the sale of value- added services. The number of China Gold Supplier members reached 100,694 as of March 31, representing an increase of 44,884 year on year and 4,584 quarter on quarter.

The company said it had 658,701 paying members as of March 31, representing a 36.8 percent increase from a year earlier. Revenue from the international marketplace increased to RMB 718.9 million in the first quarter, representing a 42.2-percent increase year on year and a 4.6- percent increase quarter on quarter, it said.

No immediate plan for Taobao.com listing

At the same shareholders’ meeting, Jack Ma, CEO and founder of Alibaba Group, said it’s not the right time to get its sister company Taobao.com for immediate IPO, and for the first time, Mr Ma commented on the possibility of “A” stock listing of the B2B trading platform in China.

According to a Chinese IT reporter Donew.com, the company is considering the possibility but there’s no further details to be disclosed.

In the meantime, Alibaba.com Chief Executive David Wei said he has expansion plans in the pipeline; plan unveiled included having a tie-up with eBay Inc.’s PayPal. eBay is now offering a payment service for AliExpress, a China wholesale platform newly-launched late last year

Alibaba Group has developed its own electronic payment service, called AliPay, and both PayPal, AliPay can be accepted for purchases on AliExpress now.

Soros investment in Alibaba.com

Mr Wei also told reporters after the company shareholder’ meeting that Soros, chairman of Soros Fund Management LLC, has bought Alibaba.com shares in the third quarter after his visited to Alibaba.com last summer. Wei yet declined to say how large Soros’ stake in the Hong Kong-listed company is.

Alibaba.com (1688.HK) is the Alibaba Group’s flagship company and the leading B2B e-commerce company in China, serving small and medium sized enterprises in China and around the world.