Alibaba

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Alibaba's Singles' Day sales hit $30 billion, on track for record

Josh Horwitz
NOVEMBER 11, 2019 / 12:10 AM

HANGZHOU, China (Reuters) - Chinese retailer Alibaba Group Holding Ltd said on Monday that sales for its annual Singles’ Day shopping blitz crossed the $30 billion mark at 4:31 p.m. (0831 GMT), putting the event on track to set a record in its 11th year.

The figure is equivalent to over 80% of U.S. rival Amazon.com Inc’s online store sales in the latest quarter and matches takings across Alibaba’s e-commerce platforms on Singles’ Day last year.

Sales growth for the full 24-hour event, however, is likely to fall short of the year earlier, analysts said, held back by a slowing overall e-commerce industry in China at a time when the country’s economic expansion is heading toward a historic low.

The event tmsnrt.rs/2WTFm7V, a gauge of Chinese consumer sentiment, has also become a shop window this year for Alibaba as the firm plans to sell $15 billion worth of shares in Hong Kong this month. The U.S.-listed firm has spent big to diversify its business yet still earns over fourth-fifths of revenue from e-commerce.

Alibaba turned China’s informal Singles’ Day into a shopping event in 2009 and built it into the world’s biggest online sales fest, dwarfing Cyber Monday in the United States which took in $7.9 billion last year. The name is a play on the date, Nov. 11, rendered 11/11 - or Double Eleven, as the event is also known.

The event has since been replicated at home and abroad, with Singles’ Day promotions found at rivals such as China’s JD.com Inc and Pinduoduo Inc as well as South Korea’s 11thStreet and Singapore’s Qoo10.

But sales growth for Alibaba on Singles’ Day has weakened as China’s economy slowed. Last year, it posted a 27% year-on-year sales increase, the lowest in the event’s 10-year history. Citic Securities forecasts sales to rise 20-25% this year.

CELEBRITY START

The Chinese retail juggernaut, with a market value of $486 billion, kicked off this year’s 24-hour shopping bonanza with a live performance by U.S. pop star Taylor Swift followed by live-streamed marketing of over 1,000 brands.

Sales hit $1 billion after one minute and eight seconds and reached 158.31 billion yuan ($22.6 billion) in the first nine hours, up 25% from the same point last year, Alibaba said.

The firm also said 84 brands including those of Apple Inc, L’Oreal SA and Fast Retailing Co Ltd’s Uniqlo each made over 100 million yuan in sales in the first hour.

Over half of merchants on its Tmall marketplace used live streaming to sell products during the event, and sales generated through the medium surpassed 10 billion yuan at 8.55 a.m. (0055 GMT), Alibaba said.

The firm has said it expects over 500 million users to make purchases this year, about 100 million more than last year. It has also put more emphasis this year on promotions targeting areas outside of China’s massive first- and second-tier cities.

More details in https://www.reuters.com/article/us-singl...SKBN1XK0HD

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9988

Alibaba sets retail price for Hong Kong-listed shares after overwhelming response for global tranche of US$13.9 billion secondary listing
* Alibaba Group Holding to price its retail shares at no more than HK$188 (US$24) each, according to a company statement
* The e-commerce giant will raise up to US$13.86 billion in the first secondary listing on Hong Kong’s stock exchange, in a deal that would catapult the city back to the top of global ranks as the IPO capital

Peggy Sito & Enoch Yiu  
Published: 6:53pm, 14 Nov, 2019
Updated: 9:30am, 15 Nov, 2019

Alibaba Group Holding has picked auspicious numbers for both its stock code and set the offer price for retail investors in its sale of new shares in Hong Kong, after receiving overwhelming response for the global tranche of its US$13.86 billion secondary listing.

The 12.5 million new shares in the Hong Kong retail offering will be priced at no more than HK$188 (US$24) each, the company said in an email statement on Friday. The international offering tranche of 487.5 million shares will be set by November 20 after a marketing process.

The size of the retail portion may be increased to as many as 50 million shares, subject to demand and a clawback mechanism. The final price will be set at the lower of the international offer price and HK$188, it added.

The stock’s code on the Hong Kong stock exchange is 9988, which rhymes with “prosperity forever.” The numbers eight and nine are considered auspicious in both Cantonese and Mandarin Chinese.

“During this time of ongoing change, we continue to believe that the future of Hong Kong remains bright,” Daniel Zhang, Alibaba’s executive chairman, said in a letter to investors on Friday. “We hope we can contribute, in our small way, and participate in the future of Hong Kong.”

More details in https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-fi...-hong-kong

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Alibaba’s mega IPO attracts 200,000 retail applications, including one bid for HK$1.1 billion worth of shares
* The number of applications ranks among the highest in the city’s IPO history, but trails bids in MTR Corp, ICBC and LinkREIT retail offerings
* Retail investors are assured of getting one lot for every five they applied for, sources say

Enoch Yiu & Peggy Sito  
Published: 6:25pm, 22 Nov, 2019
Updated: 6:48pm, 22 Nov, 2019

Alibaba Group Holding received about 200,000 applications from investors in the retail portion of its mega stock offering in Hong Kong, including one whopping bid for HK$1.1 billion (US$140 million) worth of shares, according to sources who are familiar with the deal.

The size of the applications for the e-commerce giant’s stock ranks among the highest in the city’s retail offerings, according to exchange data. There were 184,000 retail bids in the Tracker Fund IPO in 1999 and 110,000 in mainland smartphone maker Xiaomi offering in 2018. The three highest retail applications are still held by lender Industrial and Commercial Bank of China in 2006 (969,298), MTR Corp in 2000 (600,000) and LinkREIT in 2005 (510,000).

The Hangzhou-based e-commerce giant raised HK$101.2 billion from its secondary listing plan by selling up to 575 million new shares at HK$176 each, the biggest stock offering globally this year. Ten per cent of the shares were set side for the public in Hong Kong. An initial portion of 12.5 million shares was oversubscribed by 40 times and locked up a record HK$94 billion in the banking system, people familiar with the listing said earlier this week.

Retail investors can be assured of getting one lot of shares for every five they applied for, people involved in the allocation said. About 80 per cent of applications for a minimum lot of 100 shares will be successful, they said, compared with a success rate of about 50 per cent in other popular IPOs in the city.

More details in https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/...-including

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Alibaba beats estimates on record Singles' Day sales

Akanksha Rana, Josh Horwitz
FEBRUARY 13, 2020 / 6:55 PM

(Reuters) - China’s Alibaba Group Holding Ltd beat analysts’ estimates for quarterly results on Thursday, driven by record sales during its annual Singles’ Day shopping blitz and demand for its cloud computing business.

The e-commerce giant usually reports its highest revenue in the December quarter due to its mega “Singles’ Day” shopping bonanza in November. The company said sales during the 24-hour shopping event hit a record $38.4 billion in 2019.

Alibaba primarily generates revenue by selling advertising and promotional services to third-party merchants that list products on its e-commerce sites, Taobao and Tmall.

The company said it was supporting the fight against the coronavirus outbreak in China by ensuring supply of daily necessities and introducing relief measures for its merchants.

Alibaba affiliate Ant Financial’s MYBank unit has said it would offer 20 billion yuan ($2.86 billion) in loans to companies in China in the wake of the outbreak.

The outbreak, which originated in the city of Wuhan, has resulted in companies laying off workers, seeking cheaper funding and struggling to restart production after an extended new year holiday as supply chains remained disrupted.

The epidemic is expected to pile more pressure on China’s economy and comes as the country signed a Phase 1 deal with the United States to ease a protracted trade war that had weighed on its growth.

Sales in the company’s core commerce business jumped 38% to 141.48 billion yuan ($20.26 billion) in the third quarter ended Dec. 31, while revenue at its cloud computing unit surged 62% to 10.72 billion yuan.

Net income attributable to ordinary shareholders rose to 52.31 billion yuan from 33.05 billion yuan.

Excluding items, the company earned 18.19 yuan per American Depository Share. Analysts had expected 15.75 yuan per ADS, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.

Revenue rose about 38% to 161.46 billion yuan, beating estimates of 159.28 billion yuan.

More details in https://www.reuters.com/article/us-aliba...SKBN2071HN

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Alibaba shops for hypermarket chain Sun Art in $3.6 billion deal

Reporting by Nikhil Kurian Nainan in Bengaluru and Josh Horwitz in Shanghai; Editing by Stephen Coates
OCTOBER 19, 20208:54 AM

(Reuters) - Alibaba Group Holdings BABA.N9988.HK said on Monday it will invest $3.6 billion to acquire a controlling stake in hypermarket operator Sun Art Retail Group Ltd 6808.HK, gaining further ground in China's retail market.

The e-commerce giant is hoping to further leverage its digital presence to support Sun Art’s 481 hypermarkets and three mid-size supermarkets in China. The move comes as Alibaba steadily expands its presence in China’s offline retail sector, as growth in traditional e-commerce slows.

Alibaba, which already owned 21% of Sun Art through a unit, will raise its stake to around 72% through the acquisition of a similar stake in A-RT Retail Holdings, who owns 51% of Sun Art.

“As the COVID-19 pandemic is accelerating the digitalisation of consumer lifestyles and enterprise operations, this commitment to Sun Art serves to strengthen our New Retail vision and serve more consumers with a fully integrated experience,” Alibaba Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Daniel Zhang said in a statement.

Alibaba added that Peter Huang would be appointed chairman of Sun Art on top of his current role as chief executive officer.

Shares of Sun Art soared more than 27% by lunchtime on Monday after Alibaba made the announcement.

Alibaba has expanded outlets across China for Freshippo, a supermarket chain that doubles as an online delivery service. Alibaba operates 214 Freshippo outlets as of its most recent earnings report.

More details in https://www.reuters.com/article/us-sun-a...SKBN27407Z

[Wildreamz]

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china...SKBN28Y0HS

Breakingviews - Xi Jinping dumps coal in Alibaba’s stocking

New guidelines on fines suggest docking as much as 10% off the offender’s revenue. If SAMR applied that equation to the group’s total sales last fiscal year, it could cost a manageable $8 billion. The Christmas Eve morning selloff deducted far more than that from the company’s market value, albeit on an odd trading day. That suggests investors believe the assault on the empire Jack Ma built, which has expanded into artificial intelligence, cloud computing and digital media, is just getting started.

(Vested)

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Where is Jack Ma? Alibaba's billionaire founder is reportedly missing following China's crackdowns on his companies
* Chinese billionaire Jack Ma is suspected missing, Jessica Yun reported for Yahoo Finance.
* Per the report, the Alibaba and Ant Group founder has not been seen publicly in more than two months and he was abruptly replaced as a judge on the African talent show he founded.
* Chinese regulators have been cracking down on Ma's business empire in recent months, halting Ant Group's IPO in November and launching an antitrust investigation into Alibaba in December.
* The clampdowns came after Ma publicly criticized China's banking rules in October.
* Ma, who has a net worth of $50.6 billion, was China's richest man until recently.
* Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

By Katie Warren
JANUARY 4, 2021

Chinese billionaire Jack Ma, the founder of Alibaba and Ant Group, is suspected missing, Jessica Yun reported for Yahoo Finance.

The 56-year-old businessman has not been seen in public for more than two months, per the report.

Ma has been in the spotlight recently as China has cracked down on his business empire. In late December, Chinese regulators launched an antitrust investigation into Alibaba, the country's biggest e-commerce company that some refer to as "the Amazon of China." And in November, China had introduced a series of new regulations that put a halt to what would have been the massive initial public offering of Ma's fintech company, Ant Group.

The new rules came weeks after Ma criticized China's financial regulatory system at a conference in Shanghai in October. At the conference, Ma reportedly dismissed the global financial regulations used by China as "an old people's club" and said, "We can't use yesterday's methods to regulate the future."

Blair Silverberg, CEO of debt-financing startup Capital told Business Insider's Katie Canales in November that the new regulations were introduced "so the government can assert its supremacy over Jack Ma."

In November, Ma was replaced as a judge on the African talent show he founded, "Africa's Business Heroes," the Financial Times reported. The talent show did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment, but an Alibaba spokesperson told Business that Ma could no longer be on the judging panel for the show's finale — which was filmed in November but has not yet been released — "due to a scheduling conflict."

"We do not have anything to add beyond that," the spokesperson said in response to questions about Ma's whereabouts.

Ma stepped down as chairman of Alibaba in 2019.

More details in https://www.businessinsider.com/alibaba-...?r=US&IR=T

[weijian]

Ma Yun and co has probably done more than anyone currently alive to improve the lives of his comrades (probably Deng Xiaoping did more but he's dead). He is much more valuable than a lot of the property barons that didn't toe the party line.

He is probably safe somewhere. He is also safer in future now that he has learnt to zip his mouth.

We Don’t Know (Where) Jack (Is)

Jack Ma and Alibaba have arguably done more than any single company to grow the Chinese middle class and improve the quality of life for the average Chinese person. But since Jack (characteristically) opened his mouth in October, Alibaba is a black sheep.

https://notboring.substack.com/p/baba-black-sheep

[corydorus]

That's probably explain why America will always be ahead despite their shortcomings. Their talents are their assets in regenerating their innovative economy in the long run.

[dreamybear]

How can China tech giants survive regulators? Cash - From abroad
https://www.imd.org/research-knowledge/a...om-abroad/
"The reason why China’s big tech companies are falling out of favor is simple: They are disrupting state-owned enterprises without winning abroad."

I think this is an interesting view point and according to the article also : "Alibaba’s international commerce is about 10% of its domestic revenue." I guess Alibaba's challenges are not over yet, despite the hefty fine. Though the share price has corrected somewhat, now trading at a reasonable 25x P/E(given it's a growth tech/"monopoly-type" stk), with the "endorsement of CM", I am still in two minds about it.