Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. posted revenue growth on stronger retail and cloud-computing results in the latest quarter, but a large fine levied by the Chinese government dragged the company to a quarterly loss.
Alibaba’s sales rose to 187.4 billion yuan, or about $28.6 billion, from 114.31 billion yuan in 2020’s comparable quarter. Analysts were forecasting sales of 180.2 billion yuan, according to FactSet.
A large fine imposed by China’s top market regulator after an investigation into anticompetitive practices weighed on the company’s bottom line. After the fine of 18.23 billion yuan, or roughly $2.78 billion, Alibaba posted a net loss of 1.99 yuan per American depository share, or about 30 cents per ADS, compared with earnings of 1.16 yuan per ADS in the year-ago quarter.
According to the antitrust regulator, an investigation launched in December found that the company punished some merchants who sold goods both on Alibaba and on rival platforms, a practice known as “er xuan yi”— “choose one out of two.”
Beijing officials have continued to take a hard-line stance against China’s tech giants. Last month, nearly three dozen Chinese tech companies made vows to comply with the country’s antimonopoly laws.