Net income triples at Alibaba as revenue jumps 46pc
E-commerce giant is likely to get a valuation of US$200b or more by the time it goes public
Alibaba Group Holding's revenue growth accelerated in the second quarter on strong gains in its mobile business, providing investors with what may be the final glimpse of the firm's financials before its expected landmark market debut.
The e-commerce giant, whose initial public offering could be the largest by a technology company, said mobile revenue was roughly a third of its total transaction volume in the three months to June, up from 27.4 per cent in the first three months of the year.
Revenue in the second quarter rose 46 per cent year on year to US$2.54 billion, a faster pace than the 38.7 per cent growth posted in the first quarter.
Net income attributable to ordinary shareholders nearly tripled to US$1.99 billion, or 84 US cents per share, in the second quarter.
[It] seems the mobile monetisation is on an upward trajectory
"The main positive I take away is that [it] seems the mobile monetisation is on a very strong upward trajectory," Atlantic Equities analyst James Cordwell said. "The results are very positive overall for the forthcoming [flotation], and I think you can see valuations head north of U$200 billion as we go through the [flotation] process."
Alibaba accounts for about 80 per cent of all online retail sales on the mainland, where rising internet usage and an expanding middle class helped the company generate gross merchandise volume of US$296 billion in the 12 months to June.
