Strong holiday sales helped e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd beat forecasts on Thursday with a 32 percent rise in third-quarter revenue, but it was not immune from China’s slowdown.
Alibaba’s results also reflected a weakening of the Chinese economy, with so-called gross merchandise volume (GMV) rising by its slowest annual rate in more than three years.
As Chinese growth fell to its weakest pace in 25 years, Alibaba’s GMV – the total value of goods transacted on its platforms – rose 23 percent to CNY964 billion (USD147 billion). Revenue rose to CNY34.53 billion in the quarter ended Dec. 31, compared with the average analyst estimate of CNY33.33 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.