China's Alibaba Group Holding reported an 86 per cent plunge in fourth-quarter profit on Tuesday primarily due to valuation changes from equity investments, pushing its US-listed shares down 3 per cent in premarket trading though revenue beat analysts' estimates, reports Reuters.
The group's focus on low-cost goods in response to cautious consumer spending helped boost domestic e-commerce sales, it said.
Alibaba also announced it would revive a plan first floated in 2022 to upgrade its secondary listing in Hong Kong to a primary listing, while retaining its primary listing in New York. It aims to complete this dual-primary listing by August, hoping it will give Chinese investors more access to Alibaba shares.
The company has had a tumultuous year since announcing the biggest shake-up in its 25-year history in March last year, splitting into six units and refocusing on its core businesses, including domestic e-commerce.
Consumers in China have been spending carefully after the COVID-19 pandemic amid an economic slowdown and property slump.
Alibaba's net income in the March-quarter was 3.27 billion yuan ($452 million), compared with 23.52 billion yuan a year ago.
It reported revenue of 221.87 billion yuan in the three months ended March 31, compared with a consensus estimate of 219.66 billion yuan, according to LSEG data.
Alibaba's domestic commerce arm, Taobao and Tmall Group, grew 4 per cent year-over-year with order volume increasing double-digits.
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