2/21/2012 6:35 AM ET
(RTTNews) - Alibaba.com Ltd. (ALBCF.PK: News ), a Chinese small business e-commerce company, reported Tuesday that its fourth-quarter profit declined from last year amid difficult environment. EBITDA, a key earnings measure, climbed 32.7 percent with a 9 percent increase in revenues, despite a decline in paying members. CEO Jonathan Lu said, "We cautiously head into 2012 as the outlook for the global economy remains murky."
In the quarter, the number of registered users grew 4.9 percent sequentially to 76.33 million with strong growth in international marketplace and China market place. Paying members declined 2.8 percent sequentially.
For fiscal 2011, attributable profit increased 16.6 percent and revenues climbed 15.5 percent despite a decline in paid membership base on its platforms.
The company noted that the overseas buyers have become less active, the Euro zone crisis continues to unfold and the U.S. economy shows receding evidence of recovery. These factors negatively impacted emerging economies and developing nations.
Looking ahead, Alibaba.com said it will continue to implement its strategies for evolution, despite the challenging economic background expected for 2012. These include the lingering sovereign debt in the Euro zone and manufacturing slow down in China.
The company added that it will continue to invest in new businesses such as AliExpress, Liang Wu Xian and performance-based services where they envision future potential for growth.
For the fourth quarter, profit attributable to equity owners fell to 385.9 million Chinese yuan from 410.4 million yuan a year ago. Earnings per share dropped to 7.7 yuan cents from year-ago quarter's 8.1 yuan cents. In Hong Kong dollars, quarterly earnings per share remained unchanged at 9.4 HK Cents.
Revenue for the latest quarter totaled 1.66 billion yuan, 9 percent higher than 1.52 billion yuan in the earlier year period. Deferred revenue and customer advances edged down 0.3 percent.
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by RTT Staff Writer
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