Alibaba’s net income returns to positive in latest quarterly results

Alibaba Group has posted better than expected financial results for the third quarter of its 2023 financial year, but revenue only grew modestly at 2%.

The Chinese ecommerce giant reported a net income of 46 billion yuan (US$6.6 billion) for the quarter ended on December 31, 2022. This represents an increase of 138% from the same quarter in 2022.

However, according to its financial filings, the group laid off nearly 20,000 employees in 2022. “During the past quarter, we continued to improve operating efficiency and cost optimization that results in robust profit growth,” said Toby Xu, chief financial officer of Alibaba Group.

Its Chinese ecommerce business contributed US$24 billion or 69% of the company’s total revenue for the quarter. Meanwhile, international commerce generated US$3 billion or 8% of the total revenue for the same period.

Its international commerce businesses include Lazada, AliExpress, Trendyol, and Daraz. Without disclosing specific details, Alibaba said Lazada has improved its order growth, monetization rate and narrowed losses per order.

Notably, Alibaba also reported a “healthy public cloud growth,” with the segment generating US$2.9 billion in revenue for the quarter. In December 2022, the company said it added a third data center in Japan and now offers computing services in 28 regions globally.

Note: Alibaba has a March financial year-end.

Currency converted from Chinese yuan to US dollars: US$1 = 6.9 yuan.

See also: Why Alibaba should spin off Lazada