Source: Financial Services Association Author: Hu Jiarong
Alibaba announced its latest quarterly results on the 14th. The company's revenue for the fourth fiscal quarter of fiscal year 2024 was 221.87 billion yuan, up 7% year on year; net profit was 919 million yuan, down 96% year on year. Affected by this,$BABA-SW (09988.HK)$Hong Kong stocks opened more than 4% lower today.
Regarding the sharp drop in net profit, Alibaba explained that the net loss was mainly due to changes in the market value of the equity investment held in listed companies, while the same period last year was due to net income.
Recently, Alibaba announced a reduction in its investment holdings
According to the 13F US stock holding documents submitted by Alibaba, in the first quarter, Alibaba cleared 10 million shares of Bilibili (already reported in March) and 8.43 million shares of Zhiwen Group (Momo's parent company) and bought more than 1.7 million shares to open a position on Zhihu. Keep the positions of Xiaopeng Motors and Weibo unchanged. By the end of the first quarter, Alibaba's total US stock holdings had dropped from US$421 million to US$154 million.
Take Bilibili for example. Earlier reports indicated that Taobao China Holdings Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Alibaba, the majority shareholder no longer owns any of Bilibili's common shares or American Depositary Shares. Furthermore, reports of Alibaba reducing its holdings of Bilibili shares appeared as early as March 22.
Let's take another look at Xiaopeng Motors. According to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange equity disclosure, on March 22, Taobao China Holdings Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Alibaba, completed the sale of 33 million ADS (representing 66 million Class A common shares) of Xiaopeng Motors.
In the Hong Kong stock market, Alibaba sold 838,400 shares of Kuaigou Taxi last year, with a transaction value of about HK$423,000.
Why is Alibaba making frequent moves to reduce its holdings?
The first is capital management goals: According to information disclosed by the US Securities and Exchange Commission, Alibaba's holdings reduction in some companies is mainly based on the company's own capital management goals.
The second is to focus on core business: Alibaba Group mentioned in its financial report for the 2024 fiscal year that the company is making strategic adjustments to focus on its core businesses, such as e-commerce and cloud computing, while exiting non-core assets worth 1.7 billion US dollars.
Furthermore, there are organizational restructuring: Alibaba carried out a year-long organizational restructuring in the 2024 fiscal year, which may involve a reevaluation and adjustment of its companies' investments.
Alibaba will launch a new round of cash dividend payments next quarter
Despite a sharp drop in Alibaba's net profit, the latest financial report indicates that in the next quarter, Alibaba will launch a new round of cash dividend payments. It is expected that by the close of the market on June 13, 2024, US stock and Hong Kong stock investors will be paid $0.125 per common share or $1.00 per American depositary share; in addition, a one-time special cash dividend of $0.0825 per common share or $0.66 per American depository share. The total dividends are around $4 billion.
Furthermore, they also revealed that the company has been preparing for the company's main listing in Hong Kong and is currently expected to complete the conversion by the end of August 2024.
edit/lambor