Alibaba with a Bad Reputation, Net Profit Drops 87% in One Year

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Cho Hyun-ui] Alibaba, China's largest online shopping mall operator, saw its net profit plummet by 87% in one year due to regulations imposed by Chinese authorities.

On the 18th, Alibaba announced that its third-quarter net profit was 3.4 billion yuan (approximately 630 billion KRW), down 87% from 26.5 billion yuan (approximately 4.9 trillion KRW) in the same period last year.

Revenue increased by 29% to 200.7 billion yuan (approximately 37.19 trillion KRW) during the same period but fell short of the market forecast of 207.4 billion yuan compiled by Bloomberg.

Alibaba fell out of favor with authorities after its founder Jack Ma openly criticized Chinese financial regulators in October last year. Following several pressures, including a 3 trillion KRW antitrust fine imposed in April, Alibaba has been conducting its business as cautiously as possible.

Due to cautious marketing aimed at appeasing authorities, the sales growth rate during this year's Singles' Day was only 8.4%, about one-tenth of last year's 85.6%. This is the first time Alibaba's Singles' Day sales growth rate has recorded a single-digit figure since the first event in 2009.

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