Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, the Chinese e-commerce giant, unveiled its quarterly revenue, reporting a modest 2% rise that fell short of market predictions. Simultaneously, it announced the board's approval for a spinoff of its cloud-computing arm.
Revenue for the quarter ending March came in at 208.20 billion yuan ($30.12 billion), slightly missing the Refinitiv consensus forecast of 210.3 billion yuan, an estimate derived from 26 analysts.
China has seen a slight upturn in consumer spending since dropping stringent zero-COVID measures late last year. However, consumer spending remains subdued amid an unstable economic recovery.
Alibaba disclosed plans earlier this year to restructure its operations into six divisions, a strategic move following a two-year regulatory clampdown on China's technology industry. It anticipates all units, with the exception of its China-facing e-commerce division, to secure outside funding and pursue public listings.
The e-commerce titan announced the board's approval of a full spinoff of the Cloud Intelligence Group on Thursday, planning to distribute stock dividends to its shareholders. It aims to finalize the spinoff within the next 12 months.
Chief Financial Officer Toby Xu also revealed that the board greenlit the external financing process for Alibaba International Digital Commerce Business Group, while also endorsing IPO considerations for Cainiao Smart Logistics Group and the planned IPO for Freshippo.
Earlier in the month, reports surfaced suggesting that Alibaba's logistics branch seeks to raise $2 billion through a Hong Kong listing set to occur early next year.
The net income attributed to ordinary shareholders for the quarter was 23.52 billion yuan, contrasting with a loss of 16.24 billion yuan in the same period last year.
Alibaba continues to grapple with the challenge of attracting new users as China's e-commerce market reaches maturity. New rivals like PDD Holdings (PDD.O) and Douyin, ByteDance's TikTok equivalent in China, have been gaining ground.
Year-over-year revenue growth stood at 2%, bringing the total to 868.69 billion yuan. This represents the company's slowest growth rate since its public debut in 2014.
