Innocent BenjaminChinese e-commerce giant, Alibaba, on Thursday announced a loss of some 974.7 million euros in the last quarter of its fiscal year, weighed down by a record fine in China for obstructing competition.
A leading digital company in China and long displayed as a exemplary model for its success, Alibaba was fined 2.3 billion euros last month, April, for abuse of a dominant position – an amount that represented 4% of its business turnover in 2019.
Regulators have pinned accusations of unfair trade practices on the group, including the exclusivity imposed on traders to sell their products on its platforms only, to the detriment of competing sites. The state authority for market regulation had imposed the penalty after the conclusion of an investigation that had been going on since December.
Without this fine, Alibaba would have made a profit of 26.21 billion yuan (3.3 billion euros), indicates the group based in Hangzhou (east).
Despite its setbacks with Chinese regulators, Alibaba is optimistic for the current year “given the potential of the Chinese Market.” The group aims to generate a turnover of more than 930 billion yuan (119.2 billion euros).
Founded by the charismatic billionaire Jack Ma, Alibaba is also represented in finance through its subsidiary Ant Group, owner of Alipay, an ultra-popular smartphone application in China that allows you to pay for purchases.
Last year, regulators derailed Ant Group’s monumental IPO, which would have allowed it to raise $ 34 billion in Hong Kong.
OFONIMEH JOHNSON
James steller
Mitrobe Staff