By CHENG Lu

Alibaba’s revenue grew 29 percent to 201 billion yuan (US$31 billion) in the second fiscal quarter, while adjusted net profits dropped 39 percent to 28.5 billion yuan.

Alibaba is currently immersed in legal difficulties and was fined US$2.8 billion in April for monopolistic practices. The recurrence of the pandemic has also affected its performance. Alibaba trimmed its 2022 growth estimate to under 23 percent. The previous expectation was 30 percent.

The company made 171 billion yuan from its Taobao and Tmall platforms, up 31 percent from last year, less than in previous quarters due to slowing market conditions and more players in the e-commerce market. Global active users reached 1.24 billion, up 5.3 percent from last quarter. The company hopes to serve two billion people in the near future.

Alibaba attributed the fall in profits to increased investment in new business units including Taobao Deals and Lazada, the largest e-commerce platform in Southeast Asia that Alibaba acquired in 2016. Taobao Deals - basically a special offer version of Taobao - is the conglomerate’s fastest-growing business unit, especially in smaller cities, with more than 240 million users. The community group-buying app Taocaicai operates in 200 cities. Its income increased over 150 percent from the previous quarter.

Domestic consumption, globalization, and cloud computing were up 31 percent, 41 percent, and 33 percent respectively, compared with last year.

Alibaba’s US-listed stock fell 9.69 percent to 145.93 yuan per share on November 19, putting its market value below US$400 billion.