(Yicai) May 15 -- Alibaba Group Holding's shares sank 6 percent in New York following the near halving of the Chinese e-commerce giant’s quarterly profit.

Alibaba [NYSE: BABA] closed at USD79.51 a share in New York yesterday, after its Hong Kong-listed stock [HKG: 9988] ended 1.9 percent higher at HKD82.65 (USD10.58). The Hong Kong Stock Exchange is closed today for the Buddha's Birthday holiday.

Net profit fell 96 percent from a year ago to USD127 million in the three months ended March 31, mainly on losses from investments in publicly traded companies, the Hangzhou-based firm’s earnings report showed late yesterday. Revenue rose 7 percent to USD30.7 billion.

Alibaba is confident of maintaining its leading market share with the gradual improvement in products and investment strategies under its strategy of putting users first, Chairman and Chief Executive Wu Yongming said on an earnings conference call.

Excluding stock-based compensation expenses, gains and losses on investments, impairment of intangible assets, and certain other items, profit fell 11 percent to USD3.4 billion.

Operating income fell 3 percent to USD2 billion due to heavier investment in e-commerce businesses and bonuses to retain staff at courier arm Cainiao Smart Logistics Network, Alibaba  said. Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization fell 5 percent to USD3.3 billion.

For the 2023 fiscal year, Alibaba’s net income rose 9 percent to USD9.9 billion on an 8 percent increase in revenue to USD130.4 billion. Operating income jumped 13 percent to USD15.7 billion and adjusted EBITA tallied USD22.9 billion, up 12 percent.

The gross merchandise value of Taobao and Tmall Group, Alibaba's two main shopping sites in China, will likely gradually return to healthy growth in the 2025 fiscal year thanks to improvements in the consumer experience, according to the company.

Based on Alibaba Cloud's leading product portfolio, the vigorous layout of artificial intelligence infrastructure, and the proactive industry partner strategy, Alibaba is confident that its cloud computing arm's commercial income can regain double-digit growth in the second half of the 2025 fiscal year, Wu added.

Alibaba also said that its board of directors has approved a USD4 billion dividend payment for the current fiscal year.

Editor: Martin Kadiev