(Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) - Milano, 19 mar - The Chinese tech and e-commerce giant Alibaba said it reported net income of 15.631 billion yuan (or 2.235 billion US dollars) in its third quarter ended December 31, down by 66% compared to the year earlier.

Diluted earnings per share amounted to 0.74 yuan while adjusted diluted EPS stood at 0.89 yuan, a 67% decrease on the year earlier.

Adjusted EBITA decreased 57% year to 23.397 billion yuan, a decrease that was mainly attributed to investments in quick commerce, user experiences, and technology, partly offset by the improved operating results supported by continued growth in the Cloud business, as well as enhanced operating efficiencies across various businesses.

Revenue increased by 2% to 284.843 billion yuan. Excluding revenue from the disposed businesses of Sun Art and Intime, revenue on a like-for-like basis was up 9%.

'The rapid growth of AI + Cloud businesses in recent quarters gives us confidence to scale investments, further strengthening our full-stack AI capabilities. In consumption, our quick commerce business continues to scale while unit economics improved steadily. Our strong liquidity position and resilient cash generation provide a solid foundation to support sustained strategic investment,' said Toby Xu,.

Alibaba's chief financial officer.

(RADIOCOR) 19-03-26 13:06:41 (0355) 5 NNNN