Alibaba reports sharp rise in quarterly sales

Alibaba Group reported a sharp rise in quarterly sales as it continued to reshape its platform.

Total sales jumped 59% year-over-year to reach $4.8bn (32.15bn yuan), with those at its Chinese retail market places rising 49% to $3.52bn.

Analysts had been expecting total revenues of 30.17bn yuan.

No reference was made by the company to an on-going probe by the US market regulator, the SEC, into its accounting practices.

In adjusted terms, earnings before interest taxes and amortisation came in at $2.07bn and income from operations at $1.326bn, the company said in a statement.

Free-cash-flow on a non-GAAP basis reached $1.92bn in the June quarter.

Company chief Daniel Zhang highlighted how the firm had strengthened its competitive positions in core commerce, cloud computing and digital media and entertainment.

The company was also transforming how its 434, active buyers interacted with the platform, via the introduction of social community and personalisation driven by smart data into its digital marketplaces.

Finance chief Maggie Wu called attention to the fact that overall revenues and those at its Chinese retail marketplaces, were the highest reached since the company’s flotation.

“We passed an important milestone this quarter in achieving higher monetization of mobile users than non-mobile users for the first time, reflecting the success of our strategy to stay ahead of the curve by embracing mobile,” Wu said.

As of 15:35 BST shares in Alibaba were up 5.63% to 92.08.