Alibaba forecasts lowest revenue growth since 2014

• Alibaba reported slowest sales growth during its annual Singles’ Day

• Shares of Alibaba in the U.S. were down 3% before the opening bell on Thursday

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd forecast annual revenue to grow at its slowest pace since its market debut in 2014.

The Chinese e-commerce company missed second-quarter expectations due to the recent regulatory crackdown and increased competition.

Shares of Alibaba in the U.S. were down 3% before the opening bell on Thursday.

Alibaba reported slowest sales growth during its annual Singles’ Day last week, which is the world’s biggest online shopping fest.

Big tech companies in China including Alibaba and ride-hailing giant Didi Global Inc have been under pressure from the Chinese regulators for antimonopoly practices.

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Chinese gaming and social media giant Tencent Holdings also posted its slowest quarterly revenue growth since it went public in 2004 due to the crackdown.

Alibaba’s crackdown

Initial public offering of Alibaba’s Ant Group was suspended by the authorities last November, and was charged with a penalty of $2.8 billion for anti-competitive practices.

Jack Ma, the founder of Alibaba, has been in public view since last year when he criticized China’s regulatory system.

Alibaba revenue growth rose 29% to 200.69 billion yuan ($31.44 billion) in the quarter, the slowest growth in six quarters. Analysts had expected revenue of 204.93 billion yuan, according to Refinitiv data.

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Adjusted net income of the company was 28.52 billion yuan, a fall of 39% year-on-year.

Revenue at Alibaba’s China commerce retail business hit 126.83 billion yuan, up 33% year-on-year, while revenue from cloud computing was 20 billion yuan.

The company earned, on an adjusted basis, 11.20 yuan per share, below estimates for 12.36 yuan.

Alibaba’s Ant Group recorded a quarterly profit of about 19.7 billion yuan for the quarter.

Picture Credits: Reuters