Alibaba reports almost $40bn revenue for FY2018
Alibaba has reported a revenue of RMB250,266m ($39,898m) for FY2018, which was an increase of 58% on the previous year.
In a statement issued today (4 May), Daniel Zhang, Chief Executive Officer of Alibaba, said: “Alibaba Group had an excellent quarter and fiscal year, driven by robust growth in our core commerce business and investments we have made over the past several years in longer-term growth initiatives.
“With the continuing roll out of our New Retail strategy, our e-commerce platform is developing into the leading retail infrastructure of China. During the past year we also doubled down on technology development, cloud computing, logistics, digital entertainment and local services so that we are in a position to capture consumption growth in China and other emerging markets.”
Maggie Wu, Alibaba’s Chief Financial Officer, added: “Fiscal 2018 culminated with a quarter we are very proud of. Full year revenue grew 58%, core commerce revenue grew 60%, with profit growth of over 40% and annual free cash flow of US$15.8 billion.
“Looking ahead to fiscal 2019, we expect overall revenue growth above 60%, reflecting our confidence in our core business as well as positive momentum in new businesses. We expect our new growth initiatives will drive long-term, sustainable value for our customers and partners and increase our total addressable market.”
One of the group’s stand-out performances come from the cross-border and international retail businesses, where revenues almost doubled.
According to the Alibaba statement: “Revenue from our international commerce retail business grew 94% year-over-year in fiscal year 2018.
“Over the past year, we have integrated Lazada’s operations into the Alibaba ecosystem by re-architecting its core technology infrastructure and strengthening its management team. Southeast Asia has developed into a very competitive market but is still in the early stages of online retail penetration. Our commitment to the region is reflected in our recent decision to invest US$2 billion, in addition to the approximately US$2 billion we have already invested, into Lazada to accelerate its growth and customer reach.”
