Alibaba Health

Nov 29, 2022

11/28/2022 | 10:25pm EST Message : By Clarence Leong Shares of Alibaba Health Information Technology Ltd. rose strongly after it swung to a profit in its fiscal first half. Alibaba Health's Hong Kong-listed stock gained 9.2% to 6.07 Hong Kong dollars (US$0.78) on Tuesday, paring year-to-date losses to 7.9%. The stock outperformed the Hang Seng Tech index's 4.7% rise and the benchmark Hang Seng Index's 3.5% increase. The company said late Monday that it achieved a turnaround in its first half ended Sept. 30, posting a net profit of 160.7 million yuan (US$22.3 million), compared with a net loss of CNY231.8 million a year earlier. Revenue for the period increased 23% from the year-earlier period to CNY11.50 billion, driven by its pharmaceutical direct sales business, which grew 24%, it said. Gross profit margin for that segment improved, thanks to stronger bargaining and digital-marketing capabilities, although overall gross profit margin was flat at 20%, Alibaba Health said. The company said its pharmaceutical e-commerce platform served 27,000 merchants at the end of the period, up by 2,000 from a year earlier, while annual active consumers of its direct online stores rose more than 30 million to above 120 million over the same period. Write to Clarence Leong at clarence.leong@wsj.com (END) Dow Jones Newswires