Alibaba Group reports 42% revenue gain

Alibaba Group reported a 42% year-over-year increase in revenue and the addition of 34 million more mobile MAUs (monthly active users) as it announced its results for the quarter ended June 30.

Revenue for the quarter was RMB114.924 billion (US$16.322 billion), an increase of 42% year-over-year, mainly driven by robust revenue growth of the China retail business, Ele.me and Alibaba Cloud. The China retail business brought in RMB75.601 billion (US$10.737 billion) in quarterly revenue, up 40% year-on-year.

As of June, Alibaba’s China retail marketplaces had 755 million mobile MAUs, representing a quarterly net increase of 34 million. Annual active consumers on China retail marketplaces hit 674 million for the 12 months ended June 30, compared to 654 million for the prior 12-month period. Alibaba claimed its 6.18 Mid-Year Shopping Festival deepened its penetration into less developed areas; over 70% of the increase in annual active consumers during the quarter was from these areas.

Core business revenue reached RMB95.544 billion (US$13.572 billion), an increase of 44%. During the promotional period from June 1 to June 18, Tmall physical goods GMV (gross merchandise value), excluding unpaid orders, was up 38% year-over-year. Over 120 brands each generated more than RMB100 million in GMV.

Alibaba reported strong order growth in Southeast Asia. Overall international revenue in the quarter was RMB5.567 billion (US$791 million), an increase of 29% compared to the same quarter of 2018. The increase was primarily due to Trendyol, Turkey’s leading e-commerce platform, and an increase in revenue from AliExpress. Lazada showed solid operational improvement after strengthening its third-party marketplace business, management team and technology infrastructure, the company said. For the third consecutive quarter, Lazada achieved over 100% year-over-year order growth.

Digital media and entertainment revenue for the June quarter grew 6% year-over-year. Youku’s average daily subscribers increased 40% year-over-year.

Sales and marketing expenses in the quarter were RMB10.698 billion (US$1.519 billion), or 9% of revenue, compared to RMB8.921 billion (US$1.267 billion), or 11% of revenue, in the same quarter of 2018.

“Alibaba had a great quarter, expanding our user base to 674 million annual active consumers,” 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.”

Note: US$ figures have been calculated using today's exchange rate and thus differ from the figures in Alibaba's official release from late last week.