Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. posted its first-ever quarterly loss since it went public after being hit by a record antitrust fine in China and pledged to invest future profits into improving its business and warding off competition.
Over the past year, the Chinese e-commerce company has been under pressure from both encroaching competitors and an antitrust investigation, which ruled that Alibaba had abused its dominant market position. In a Thursday earnings call, Chief Executive Daniel Zhang said the company would focus on bettering its platform following the fine.
“We have gone through all kinds of challenges including the Covid-19 pandemic, fierce competition as well as the antimonopoly investigation and the penalty decision by Chinese regulators,” Mr. Zhang said. “We believe the best way to overcome these challenges is to look forward and invest for the long term.”
Mr. Zhang said any profits this fiscal year that surpassed last year’s figure would go toward areas including improving user growth and engagement, merchant support, infrastructure and logistics.
For the quarter ended in March, Alibaba’s net loss attributable to ordinary shareholders was 5.5 billion yuan, equivalent to $836 million, compared with a net income of 3.2 billion yuan in the same period a year earlier. Its sales rose 64% to 187.4 billion yuan, equivalent to about $28.6 billion, beating analyst expectations.
