Alibaba Group Holding Ltd beat expectations for fourth-quarter revenue, as growing demand for some of its niche online shopping services in China offset weakness at its main marketplaces caused by the country’s COVID-19 lockdowns.
Revenue in Alibaba’s cloud computing division rose 12% to 18.97 billion yuan in the reported quarter. At the core commerce unit, its largest, revenue rose 8% to 140.33 billion yuan.
The company, however, said it would not issue a forecast for the new fiscal year, citing pandemic-related risks and uncertainties.
Overall, Alibaba’s revenue rose 9% to 204.05 billion yuan ($30.35 billion) in the quarter. Analysts on average had expected revenue of 199.25 billion yuan.
Annual active consumers on its platforms reached about 1.31 billion for the fiscal year, including over 1 billion consumers in China for the first time.
Net income attributable to shareholders fell 59% to 61.96 billion yuan in the fourth quarter ended March 31, primarily due to losses associated with its equity investments in publicly traded companies.
