Alibaba's revenue in Q2 surges 56%

Alibaba Group said revenue in the second quarter surged 56 percent to US$7.4 billion amid strong growth in its online retailing platform and other business segments.

Core e-commerce related income in the three months ended June 30 jumped 58 percent, according to a filing yesterday.

Gross merchandising volume at its business-to-consumer site Tmall soared 49 percent, with fashion and apparel, consumer electronics and fast moving consumer goods among the key categories that grew robustly.

The number of active online buyers on its retail sites Taobao and Tmall China reached 466 million, up 12 million from a year ago.

Revenue at cross-border and international consumer businesses more than doubled  to US$389 million, driven by strong growth in its Southeast Asian platform Lazada and China outbound platform AliExpress.

“Our technology is driving significant growth across our business and strengthening our position beyond core commerce,” said Daniel Zhang, CEO of Alibaba Group. “We are excited about the future as we continue to innovate and drive synergies among the businesses throughout the Alibaba ecosystem.”

Alibaba's cloud computing business almost doubled to 2.43 billion yuan (US$364 million), with the number of paying customers of cloud computing business rising to 1.01 million in the second quarter from 874,000 in the previous quarter.

The number of active online buyers on its retail sites Taobao and Tmall China reached 466 million, adding 12 million from a year ago.