CHINESE online retail giant Alibaba’s quarterly revenue has fallen for the first time since its 2014 New York listing after the company co-founded by Jack Ma suffered from China’s Covid lockdowns, reports London’s Financial Times.
The company reported that revenue in the second quarter declined less than one per cent year on year to CNY206 billion (US$31 billion) during a period that included Covid lockdowns in large parts of the country. Operating profit fell 19 per cent to CNY25 billion year on year.
Noting the ‘soft’ economic environment, chief executive Daniel Zhang said Alibaba could not control the Covid resurgence or Beijing’s policies. ‘The only thing we can do at this moment is to focus on improving ourselves,’ he said. Alibaba faces a host of challenges that have sent its share price tumbling to levels near where it first traded in New York in 2014.
