SHANGHAI: Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba on Thursday said profit in the October-December period fell 74 percent, the company's third straight quarterly drop as it faced myriad challenges including a government crackdown, slowing sales growth and intensifying domestic competition.
Hangzhou-based Alibaba Group cited a "complex and volatile market environment" in announcing net income of 20.43 billion yuan ($3.2 billion), a fall of 74 percent on-year.
Alibaba's Hong Kong and US-listed shares have lost half their value over the past 12 months due to the company's troubles, which have included a wide-ranging crackdown by Chinese regulators on alleged anti-competitive practices by Alibaba and other domestic tech giants.
The scrutiny, which kicked off in late 2020, caused a record-breaking planned IPO by Alibaba's digital-payments affiliate Ant Group to be pulled at the last minute and Alibaba was hit with a record $2.75 billion fine.
Other tech giants also were hit with fines and various business restrictions.
The government has taken aim at alleged abuse of user data and monopolistic business practices by online giants, amid concerns that Ant Group's foray into online lending could fuel worrisome debt levels in the domestic economy.
Alibaba shares slump 5% on Beijing's scrutiny of Ant Group
But it also appears motivated in part by the wider perception that Chinese Big Tech had become too powerful and under-regulated.
The pressure comes as Alibaba's days of massive jumps in sales and earnings growth appear numbered.
Alibaba's overall revenue in October-December grew 10 percent year-on-year to 242.6 billion yuan, well down from its past years of quarterly increases as high as 50 percent or more.
The quarter is highlighted by China's annual "Singles' Day" shopping spree which climaxes on October 11.
The world's biggest shopping festival, it was patterned on -- but now dwarfs -- the "Black Friday" promotions in the United States.
But sales this latest time around, while still a record, grew at a slower-than-usual pace.
Analysts say Alibaba is facing sales headwinds as China's zero-tolerance approach to Covid -- which can include targeted lockdowns, business closures and other draconian measures -- disrupts consumer spending, and competition intensifies from rivals such as JD.com and Pinduoduo.
The government pressure shows little sign of abating.
Chinese regulators ordered the country's biggest state-owned firms and banks to initiate a new round of checks on their financial exposure and other links to Ant Group and its subsidiaries, according to a Bloomberg report earlier this week.