Alibaba’s revenue grew 64% to $805.9 million from $490.9 million. Net income jumped to $220.5 million in the three months ended March 31, 2012, from $29.6 million in the same period a year earlier.
Alibaba Group’s net income grew more than seven-fold in the January-March period compared with a year earlier, according to earnings filings from Yahoo Inc. The big jump in earnings highlights the rapid shift by many Chinese consumers to the Internet for goods, away from traditional bricks-and-mortar stores.
Taobao and Tmall forecast handling about one trillion yuan, or roughly $160 billion, worth of transactions this year for an array of goods, including clothing, furniture and electronics. The sites made up 71% of e-commerce transactions in China in the first quarter, according to research firm Analysys International. But their share has declined in the past few years as other websites, such as Beijing Jingdong Century Trading Co.’s 360buy.com, have gained popularity.
Alibaba took its business-to-business operation, Alibaba.com Ltd., private to improve the quality of the platform and integrate it with Taobao and Tmall, China’s biggest online shopping websites by sales. Alibaba stated it would pay a minimum of $7.1 billion in cash and stock for up to half of Yahoo’s roughly 40% stake in the company. It also said it would pay royalties to Yahoo for as long as four years.
Source: FOX Business
