Alibaba (BABA)/ 9988 HK; Jack Ma 01 (May 08 - Apr 16)

[winston]

Alibaba shows magic touch by Tony Liaw
Friday, November 12, 2010

Internet business portal Alibaba.com (1688) said third- quarter net profit jumped 55 percent, thanks to increasing revenues and strong growth of its value-added services.

Profit hit 366.1 million yuan (HK$428.4 million), up from 236.2 million yuan a year ago.

For the first nine months, net profit climbed 45 percent to 1.06 billion yuan from 731 million yuan.

The Hangzhou-based company said it expects to expand business through further cooperation next year with Taobao, the mainland online shopping community operator.

"More than 1,000 Alibaba.com users are suppliers of Taobao users," said chief executive David Wei Zhe. "Transactions each day are worth more than 10 million yuan."

To make Alibaba.com more diversified in terms of markets and functionality, Wei said the group will acquire at least one mainland company by the end of this year, but he declined to give details.

Alibaba.com expects profits to maintain stable growth, Wei said, despite the number of international members dropping a sharp 40 percent to 11,017, as of the end of September, from 18,611 last year.

He attributed the plunge in the number of users to the membership fee being set at a flat annual rate of US$2,999 (HK$23,392), prompting some members to terminate their accounts over the cost.

But revenues from the segment still rose 40 percent.

Alibaba.com shares closed at HK$15 yesterday, up 0.4 percent, before the results announcement.

http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_deta ... 01112&fc=8

[winston]

Not vested

UPDATE 1-Alibaba.com CEO resigns after jump in fraudulent sales

* Alibaba.com CEO replaced following number of fraudulent deals
* Company has paid out $1.7 mln as a result of fraud claims
* Alibaba.com says CEO, COO not personally involved in fraud
* Shares end down 3.5 pct ahead of announcement

(Adds details)

HONG KONG, Feb 21 (Reuters) - Alibaba.com has replaced its chief executive following a noticeable increase in fraudulent transactions at the Chinese e-commerce firm.

Jonathan Lu Zhaoxi, who is currently chief executive of the unlisted online retailer Taobao, will be appointed chief executive, replacing David Wei Zhe, Alibaba.com said in a statement posted on the Hong Kong stock exchange on Monday.

Alibaba.com Chairman Jack Ma said an internal investigation had picked up a spike in the number of fraudulent transactions conducted on its site by so-called China Gold Suppliers network of high volume members.

"Members of our company's senior management knew of a noticeable increase of fraud claims by global players against China Gold Supplier customers on the international marketplace that began in late 2009," Ma said in the statement.

Chief Operating Officer Lee Shi-huei Elvis had also resigned, the statement added.

Alibaba.com said in the statement there were 1,219 fraud cases in 2009 and 1,107 in 2010, with the average value per less than US$1,200.

The company also said that Lee and Wei were not personally involved in any of the claims and that they had made good faith efforts to address the problem, but were resigning to take responsibility for a "systemic breakdown".

Alibaba.com spokeswoman Linda Kozlowski declined to comment on the total amount involved, but said that the company had paid out $1.7 million from its Fair Play fund to 2,249 customers.

Alibaba.com released the notice after the Hong Kong stock market closed on Monday. Its shares were down as much as 3.7 percent in intraday trade, worse than the benchmark Hang Seng index's 0.5 percent decline.

Alibaba.com competes with Global Sources in China's 1.5 billion yuan business-to-business (B2B) marketplace industry, and is run by the charismatic Jack Ma, whose antics include stopping the sale of shark fin products in 2009 because of his stated distaste for the controversial food.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/02/ ... 5D20110221

[kennynah]

charismatic Jack Ma, whose antics include stopping the sale of shark fin products in 2009 because of his stated distaste for the controversial food.

can't beat banning chewing gum...

i love shark fin...and don't mind shark meat too

[winston]

Not vested

DJ MARKET TALK:Accumulate Alibaba On Any Significant Pullback-JPM

1130 [Dow Jones] STOCK CALL: JPMorgan says it does not expect any meaningful financial impact on Alibaba.com (1688.HK) in the near-term, although its CEO and COO have resigned following an investigation that found more than 2,300 fraudulent accounts on its e-commerce site.

The house says if there is a significant pullback in the stock, it advises investors to accumulate. It adds, with changes in corporate structure already in place since 4Q10, and a conservative outlook in 2011, the house is not revising forecasts.

"We think Mr. Lu (the New Chief Executive) brings to Alibaba.com solid 'Alibaba Culture,' execution experience, and potentially closer ties with Taobao, which would be positive to the company in the longer-term," says JPM.

The house keeps Alibaba at Neutral with an unchanged HK$16.00 target. The stock is down 8.0% at HK$15.34.


Source: Dow Jones Newswire

[winston]

Alibaba.com Q3 Profit Up 11.9 Percent

(Reuters) - Alibaba.com, China’s largest e-commerce firm, posted an 11.9 percent rise in quarterly net profit, its slowest growth in nearly two years.

Source: REUTERS US ONLINE REPORT TECHNOLOGY NEWS

http://www.newsmeat.com/news/meat.php?a ... &buid=3281

[winston]

DJ China Ministry: Oppose USTR Listing Taobao As Notorious Market

BEIJING (Dow Jones)--China opposes the U.S. Trade Representative's recent inclusion of Alibaba Group's Taobao e-commerce platform on the USTR's name-and-shame list of "notorious markets" for piracy, Chinese Commerce Ministry spokesman Shen Danyang said Wednesday.

"We express strong concern and dissatisfaction toward this," Shen said at a news briefing.

"China believes the U.S. should thoroughly and objectively reflect the efforts and the progress made by China's government and companies on intellectual property rights protection and avoid creating unnecessary negative effects for Chinese companies," he said.

USTR in December said Taobao carries listings of "pirated and counterfeit goods" despite Taobao's "significant efforts to address the problem."

A spokesman for Alibaba Group, which operates online retail website Taobao Mall and consumer-bartering website Taobao Marketplace, declined to comment.

Source: Dow Jones Newswires

[winston]

not vested

Alibaba Group plans to take Hong Kong unit private: sources by Prakash Chakravarti

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba Group plans to take its Hong Kong-listed unit, Alibaba.com <1688.HK>, private, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.

Under the yet-to-be-finalized deal, Alibaba would use borrowed money and internal cash as well as an asset swap to buy back most of a 40 percent stake that Yahoo <YHOO.O> owns in Alibaba Group, the sources said.

Alibaba.com shares were halted from trading on Thursday pending an announcement regarding its parent.

Yahoo's stake in Alibaba Group has an estimated value of $14 billion. Under the plans being discussed, Alibaba Group wants to buy back about 25 percent of its stake. Alibaba Group plans to pay one-third of the consideration through a stake in one of its operating assets and the rest through cash.

Alibaba.com is the most likely operating unit in which Yahoo may be offered a stake, one of the sources said. Both parties have an understanding on this arrangement, but have not signed any formal deal yet, the source added.

The sources declined to be identified as the discussions were private. An Alibaba Group spokesman declined to comment.

Yahoo is choosing this route as it wants to achieve tax efficiencies, sources have said previously.

Alibaba Group, founded by former English teacher and now billionaire Jack Ma, is looking to raise a loan of about $3 billion, which will be partly used to fund the buyback and the privatization.

Alibaba Group currently owns about 73 percent in Alibaba.com, which has a market value of nearly $6 billion.

Source: Reuters US Online Report Business News

[eauyong]

Yahoo near selling partial Alibaba stake for US$7.1 bln

NEW YORK - Yahoo Inc is nearing a deal on Sunday to sell part of its stake in Alibaba Group back to the Chinese company for US$7.1 billion, according to a source familiar with the matter.

Under the agreement expected to be announced as soon as Sunday night, Yahoo will sell half of its 40 per cent stake in Alibaba in a taxable transaction, the source said.

Yahoo plans to use part of the proceeds for a share buyback, the source said, asking not to be named because the matter is not public.

Representatives of Yahoo and Alibaba did not have immediate comment.


Source: REUTERS

[behappyalways]

Alibaba’s Spurning of Hong Kong Listing Has Downsides
http://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2014 ... downsides/

[behappyalways]

China’s Largest Bank Declares War on Alibaba
http://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2014 ... n-alibaba/