Alibaba’s Annual Profit Growth Flattened by Anti-Trust Fine

Profits growth at Alibaba was stunted by a $2.78 billion fine for monopoly practices. But the Chinese e-commerce and entertainment giant nevertheless managed to achieve net income of $22.9 billion in its fiscal year to March 2021.

Aside from the fine, the company’s numbers reflect the strong post-COVID recovery of the Chinese economy and the economy’s shift to digital services.

Year-on-year revenue hit $717 billion ($109 billion), compared with RMB509 billion in the year to March 2020, an increase of 41%, or 32% if the impact of acquisitions is excluded. And for the current year it is forecasting a further 30% revenue expansion to RMB930 billion.

For the first time, the number of active users of the Alibaba ecosystem exceeded 1 billion, an increase of 84 million, with some 90% of those in China.

The digital entertainment and media segment managed a 7% increase in revenue from RMB29.1 billion to $31.2 billion, helped in particular by better sales in online games. Net losses in the sector were cut by a third, from RMB15.4 billion to RMB10.3 billion.