Alibaba (BABA.US/9988.HK): March 2024 Quarterly and Fiscal Year Outlook Alibaba Group will release the results for the March 2024 quarter and fiscal year 2024 on May 14.
Quarterly and fiscal year outlook for March 2024
According to Visible Alpha's agreed forecast, total quarterly revenue for March 2024 is estimated to be RMB 219.9 billion, up 5.6% year over year. Taotian Group achieved low single-digit revenue growth. The total revenue is estimated to be RMB 925 billion, of which customer management revenue is 62.1 billion yuan. The growth rate of customer management revenue is still lower than the growth rate of sales. Currently, Taotian Group's growth strategy is to put users first, operate efficiently, and better serve Chinese consumers at multiple levels. Online retail sales of physical goods increased 11.6% year-on-year in January-March 2024, accounting for 23.3% of total retail sales of social consumer goods.
The adjusted EBITA is expected to drop slightly to 25.1 billion yuan year on year, of which the adjusted EBITA fell to 38.1 billion yuan year on year, mainly due to higher than expected business losses other than the Taotian Group, which included the company distributed one-time equity incentives to employees after Cainiao Group terminated its listing.
Earlier, the company announced that its logistics subsidiary Cainiao Smart Logistics Network Co., Ltd. had withdrawn its initial public offering and listing application on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Meanwhile, the company plans to purchase all of Cainiao's issued shares held by minority shareholders at a price of $0.62 per share. Cai Chongxin, chairman of the board of directors of Alibaba Group, also said that the group will increase its investment in rookie and focus on implementing global expansion plans and synergies with e-commerce business.
Share repurchase update as of March 31, 2024
During the quarter ending March 31, 2024, the company repurchased a total of 524 million common shares (equivalent to 65 million US ADR shares) at a total price of $4.8 billion. The company's common shares in circulation were 19.469 million shares, a net decrease of 520 million shares compared to the previous quarter.