Alibaba fears first turnover drop due to corona virus

Alibaba has had another record-breaking quarter, with a 38 % turnover growth and significant profit gains. However, the corona crisis may spell very bad news for the e-commerce giant.

Singles’ Day

In the Chinese juggernaut’s third quarter, turnover from its core business went up 38 % to 141.48 billion yuan (18.7 billion euros). Total group turnover was 161.46 billion yuan (21.3 billion euros), 1.3 % higher than analysts’ expectations. The company’s record sales on Singles’ Day (11 November) were a major contributor in the record-breaking quarterly turnover.

That significant increase in turnover did translate in a huge profit growth as well: net profits went up 58 % from 33.05 billion yuan naar 52.31 billion yuan (6.9 billion euros).

Corona virus

Not all news was good however: the corona virus outbreak is hugely limiting the Chinese economy, leading to a turnover warning for the current quarter. As a huge number of companies are closed, the e-commerce platform fears its turnover may go down. “We like other businesses are not immune to supply and demand“, Reuters quotes Alibaba CFO Maggie Wu.