eCommerce firm Alibaba.com has reported revenue of RMB1.03 billion for the third quarter of 2009, an increase of 32.1% compared to RMB781.5m for the same period last year. Revenue was up 12.3% on a sequential basis.
The company has posted an operating profit of RMB260m, a decrease of 26.2% compared to RMB352.3m for the same period a year ago. Operating income was down 5.8% compared to second quarter of 2009.
For the quarter ended September 30, 2009, the company has posted a net income of RMB236m or diluted EPS of RMB0.53, compared to RMB296.6m or diluted EPS of RMB0.67 for the third quarter of 2008. Net income was down 20.4% year-on-year and down 5.3% quarter-on-quarter.
Revenue from China marketplace was RMB378.3m during the period, a 28% increase year-on-year and a 13.4% increase quarter-on-quarter. The growth was attributable to the increase in paying members, revenue from value-added services like Ali-ADvance and premium placement and the growth in revenue from branded advertisements. Revenue from international marketplace was RMB639.3m in the period, a 33.7% increase year-on-year and an 11.2% increase quarter-on-quarter.
As of September 30, 2009, the company had 578,901 paying members, representing a 45.3% increase from the third quarter of 2008 and an 8.9% increase from the second quarter of 2009.
The company’s deferred revenue and customer advances grew to RMB3 billion as of September 30, 2009, representing an increase of 42.1% year-on-year and 7.4% quarter-on-quarter.
David Wei, chief executive officer of Alibaba.com, said: “As we look at the indicators we saw before the downturn and as we enter recovery, we see a stronger economic environment in Q4 and we remain cautiously optimistic for next year to remain relatively flat.
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“We look to global signs of gathering momentum in the export sector as well as domestic consumption in some countries to have a positive impact on all our small business customers globally and we believe e-commerce will provide great support for small businesses to upgrade and grow.”
