Alibaba quarterly net profit halved, announces CEO change

PARIS - Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba said Thursday its net profit plunged 49 per cent to $463 million (S$616 million) for the final quarter of its financial year ending March, hit by a share-based compensation expense.

Revenues however rose 45 per cent to $2.811 billion, with mobile revenue showing a three-fold leap to $846 million.

Transactions made on mobile devices continued to grow, and accounted for just over half (51 per cent) of the value of sales made on the company's China retail platforms, up from 42 per cent in the previous quarter.

Overall, the Chinese retail business contributed 75 per cent of Alibaba's total revenues.

Meanwhile, the group announced that its chief executive officer Jonathan Lu will be replaced by Daniel Zhang, currently the group's chief operating officer, from Sunday.

Lu will stay on the management board as vice chairman.

Alibaba, founded by entrepreneur Jack Ma in 1999, is China's biggest e-commerce company but is seeking to expand beyond its traditional business.

The Chinese company and Amazon are considered competitors in some areas but unlike the US firm which makes its own e-book reader, Alibaba has no products of its own and simply provides a trading platform.

Alibaba completed the world's biggest IPO with its listing on the New York Stock Exchange in September, but its stock price has since dropped sharply.