Alibaba Group, which holds subsidiaries including business-to-business platform Alibaba.com and auction site Taobao.com, posted its sluggish growth results after its profits surged 159 per cent from its first to second quarter of this year.
The results have prompted the company to consider buying back shares, which have depreciated to three-fifths of their debuted value one year ago. Alibaba recently said it would lower its membership fee for some exporters by 60 per cent to attract more business to its sites.
Yet the company is still in a steady economic position after announcing plans to bolster its international image. It achieved total revenue of RMB 780.2 million (US$114.3 million), a 37 per cent year-on-year increase and a six per cent boost from its second quarter.
Alibaba also noted it has a combined 35.6 million registered users on its sites, an increase of 40 per cent from the same period in 2007 and 10 per cent from its quarter-on-quarter.
The release comes three weeks after it announced it would launch a US$30 million global campaign in 20 key markets to strengthen its global presence. Alibaba has partnered with local companies in these markets to achieve its goal, and the campaign includes online, TV, print, radio and outdoor elements.
Of its collective users, 28.7 million people are registered on its China marketplace and 6.9 million are on its international marketplace.
