Alibaba said that it is expecting its revenue growth in 2019 to be more than 60%. It is expanding beyond eCommerce and touching the ground of new services, most importantly going deeper into the growth markets of Southeast Asia.
Yesterday, May 4, the company reported its adjusted earnings per share of 5.73 Yuan in the first quarter of 2018 while topping analysts’ estimates. On the way, Alibaba’s revenue growth reached 61% to 61.9 billion Yuan or $9.9 billion, which was faster than the analysts projected. It earned a record $789 billion in GMV (gross merchandise value) for the financial year ending in March 2018.
According to chief executive Daniel Zhang Yong, the company will continue investing in acquiring new players and winning more shares. It eyes to keep on spreading its wings over the areas of physical products, local services, and digital content. Chief financial officer Maggie Wu says that they are ‘actively exploring’ a CDR (Chinese depository receipt) in the homeland.
Zhang disclosed more specific details on expansions that are focused on by the company. For one, they are to constantly expand new retail formats like the company-owned Hema supermarkets, presently on course to open 30 new Hema stores. Cainiao, the logistic unit of Alibaba, will keep on helping build infrastructure, letting the new retail operations grow.
Alibaba eCommerce, the biggest in China, is also focusing on its core business, retail, and payments to fight off its major rival Tencent. This expansion even resulted in Alibaba taking over Amazon as the biggest eCommerce in the world for a brief time period.
Stay tuned to know more about Alibaba’s 2019 market movements.
