Retail in Asia

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Alibaba Group’s June 2019 results

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Alibaba Group announced financial results for the quarter ended June 30, 2019.

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“Alibaba had a great quarter, expanding our user base to 674 million annual active consumers, demonstrating our superior user experience,” said Daniel Zhang, Chief Executive Officer of Alibaba Group.

“We will continue to expand our customer base, increase operating efficiency and deliver robust growth. With strong cash flow from our core commerce business, we will continue to invest in technology and bring digital transformation to millions of businesses globally,” he continued.

“We had a strong quarter to start our fiscal year, with revenue growing 42% and adjusted EBITDA growing 34% year-over-year,” said Maggie Wu, Chief Financial Officer of Alibaba Group.

“We are pleased to see sustained user engagement and consumer spending across our platforms. We continue to invest for long-term growth while at the same time gaining cost efficiencies in our investment areas,” she continued.

Highlights

  • Strong quarter across the board; beat estimates on revenue and earnings
  • Industry-leading revenue growth of 42% YoY
  • Core business continued growth driven by new users and robust consumption activity
  • Extending leadership position in less developed areas

June Quarter Financial Review 

  • Total revenue of RMB114.9 billion (US$16.7 billion), up 42% YoY
  • Net income attributable to ordinary shareholders was RMB21.3 billion (US$3.1 billion), up significantly year-over-year due to significantly higher share-based compensation expense in the year-ago period
  • This expense was higher because during that year-ago quarter Ant Financial completed an equity financing at a higher valuation, which required Alibaba to recognize the increase in value of Ant Financial awards to Alibaba Group employees
  • Excluding this impact, income from operations would have been up 27% YoY
  • Adjusted EBITDA increased 34% YoY to RMB39.2 billion (US$5.7 billion)
  • Marketplace-based core commerce adjusted EBITA up 27% YoY to RMB46.8 billion (US$6.8 billion)
  • Non-GAAP free cash flow was RMB26.4 million (US$3.8 billion)

BUILDING UPON STRONG CORE COMMERCE BUSINESS

Expanding Core Commerce Leadership

  • Core Commerce revenue of RMB99.5 billion (US$14.5 billion), up 44% YoY
  • Tmall continued to gain wallet share and expand B2C market leadership, with paid physical goods GMV up 34% YoY
  • New Retail continued to expand and achieved robust same-store sales growth
  • As of June 30, 2019, there were 150 self-operated Freshippo stores in 17 cities across China

Robust User Growth and Engagement

  • Annual active consumers on Alibaba China marketplaces reached 674 million, up 20 million over the 12-month period ended March 31, 2019; over 70% of new users came from less developed areas
  • Mobile MAUs reached 755 million, an increase of 34 million over March 2019
  • The strong user growth reflects successful user acquisition programs which deepened our penetration into less developed areas

Local Services Enjoys Robust GMV Growth and Improving Operating Efficiencies

  • Revenue from local consumer services was RMB6.2 billion (US$900 million), an increase of 137% YoY
  • Alibaba achieved strong growth in daily on-demand GMV, driven by robust order growth and increasing average order size
  • Deepened integration with the Alibaba Digital Economy; consumers can discover offline promotional deals from nearest merchants while using the Taobao app

Cainiao Logistics Delivers Strong Cross-Border Growth and Last-Mile Solutions

  • Cainiao logistics services revenue was RMB5.0 billion (US$729 million), up 50% YoY, driven by the increase in the volume of orders fulfilled
  • Cainiao’s import fulfillment solutions served over 97% of Tmall Global packages in June 2019

CLOUD BUSINESS CONTINUES TO GROW AND INNOVATE

  • Cloud revenue grew 66% YoY to RMB7.8 billion (US$1.1 billion) driven by an increase in average revenue per customer
  • During the June 2019 quarter, Alibaba Cloud launched over 300 new products and features

GROWING USERS IN DIGITAL MEDIA AND ENTERTAINMENT

  • Digital Media and Entertainment revenue grew 6% YoY to RMB6.3 billion (US$920 million), primarily due to its consolidation of Alibaba Pictures

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  • Youku’s average daily subscribers grew 40% YoY due to synergies between the commerce and entertainment businesses, which continued to deliver superior user experiences