Profits dip, revenue soar in Alibaba’s first report since IPO

The Chinese e-commerce giant delivered some exceptional news in it’s first report to investors since its record-setting $25 billion listing in September: net income climbed 15.5 percent to $1.11 billion for the July-September period, meeting analysts’ expectations, and revenue shot up 53.7 percent to $2.74 billion, versus expected sales of $2.7 billion, its fastest growth in three quarters. Mobile revenue was more than 10 times higher than in the like period last year and accounted for 30 percent of total sales, as Alibaba continued to successfully ramp up its mobile monetization.

We delivered a strong quarter with significant growth across our key operating metrics.

Jonathan Lu, chief executive officer of Alibaba

Meanwhile, profit margins shrank to a two-year low of 18 percent. The shares were flat in pre-market trading in New York, from $101.80 at Monday’s close. The stock has risen about 50 percent from its debut price.

Business baba