Alibaba full-year profit slumps nearly 60% on tech crackdown, Covid
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Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba said Thursday its profit fell 59 percent in the last fiscal year, joining a number of tech firms to report lacklustre results following strict Covid-19 restrictions and a sector crackdown.
The Hangzhou-based group cited "macro challenges that impacted supply chains and consumer sentiment" as it announced a loss of 16.2 billion yuan ($2.56 billion) for the January-March quarter, and warned it would not offer forward-looking financial guidance due to Covid risks.
China's economy has in recent months been battered by the fallout from strict Covid curbs including lockdowns and transport restrictions that have kept consumers home, pushed the urban unemployment rate up, and tangled supply chains.
Alibaba has also had to contend with a wide-ranging regulatory crackdown on alleged anti-competitive practices by China's tech giants, with officials ramping up scrutiny in late 2020.
A planned IPO by Alibaba's digital-payments affiliate Ant Group was pulled at the last minute and the company hit with a record $2.75 billion fine for alleged unfair practices.
On Thursday, Alibaba Group said its revenue grew around nine percent in the January-March quarter to 204.1 billion yuan, slightly more than a Bloomberg forecast.
Full-year profit came to 62 billion yuan ($9.8 billion) for the latest financial year.
"Since mid-March 2022, our domestic businesses have been significantly affected by the Covid-19 resurgence in China, particularly in Shanghai," the company said.
"Considering the risks and uncertainties arising from Covid-19... we believe it is prudent at this time not to give financial guidance as we typically do at the start of the fiscal year," it added.