Alibaba Enters India

Alibaba.com (HKSE: 1688), China’s leading B2B e-commerce company, announced its first quarter results early last month. Revenue for the quarter increased 53.2% to RMB680 million (~ $99 million) and EPS rose 118.6% to HK$6.47 (~ $0.93) for the year.

The international marketplace contributed 68% of total revenue and grew 43% for the year and 4% over the quarter. The China marketplace contributed the remaining 32% of total revenue, registering annual growth of 81% and sequential growth of 14%.

In other metrics, Alibaba’s user base grew to 29.7 million, an increase of 37% for the year and 8% for the quarter. It had 4.9 million users in the international market and 24.8 million in the China marketplace. Paying members increased by 36% for the year to reach 327,000.

In response to fears of a recession in the US, the company will increase its focus on the Chinese marketplace and look to expand in other industries and regions that are less likely to be impacted by such a recession.

As part of that strategy, Alibaba recently announced a tie-up with Infomedia India Limited, India’s largest yellow pages and special interest publishing company. The partnership will provide Indian SMEs with a solution for global and domestic trade by creating an online community of Indian businesses. It will also offer them a single cost-effective channel of vendors and suppliers.

But it looks as though Alibaba still hasn’t found its lost password. The stock continued to fall following the results announcement and is currently trading at HK$12.86, a 15% decrease from its pre-announcement price.