The Hangzhou-based company is one of the biggest players in China's tech industry, with operations spanning retail, digital payment, artificial intelligence and entertainment.
Alibaba posted revenue of 941.2 billion yuan ($130.4 billion) in the fiscal year ending March 31, up eight percent year-on-year, a statement by the firm showed.
Net income for the period stood at 71.3 billion yuan, up nine percent year-on-year, the statement also showed.
Alibaba announced plans last year to undergo a significant restructuring that would see it split into six entities, each managed by its own CEO and board of directors.
"During fiscal year 2024, we repurchased US$12.5 billion of shares and our board of directors has approved a US$4.0 billion dividend for fiscal year 2024," said Toby Xu, the group's Chief Financial Officer.
China's tech sector has suffered under a regulatory crackdown by Beijing that began in 2020, prompted in part by the government's fears that too much power and capital had been amassed by a few firms.
But Beijing has signalled recently that the period of intense regulatory scrutiny is winding down, as new headwinds threaten to drag on the world's second-largest economy.
Alibaba's decision to restructure is seen by analysts as intended to make the firm more nimble and help isolate parts of the business from potential future crackdowns.
But the firm's planned overhaul has encountered obstacles.
In March Alibaba withdrew a planned initial public offering (IPO) for its logistics arm Cainiao, saying it would support the platform "to execute a long-term strategic expansion of its global logistics network".
And last November saw the firm cancel a spin-off of its cloud computing business -- a planned move that was also part of the overhaul blueprint.
Uncertainty about Alibaba's future development has persisted ever since top leaders in Beijing scuttled a planned IPO of its financial services arm, Ant Group, in late 2020.
The cancelled public listing -- which would likely have been the biggest in history -- was followed one month later by an announcement that Alibaba was under formal investigation in China for alleged monopolistic practices.
- Sluggish spending -
Alibaba on Tuesday said it was still committed to long-delayed plans to convert to a dual primary listing in both New York and Hong Kong, nearly two years after announcing the plan.
"We have been preparing for our primary listing in Hong Kong and currently expect to complete this conversion by the end of August 2024," it said in its filing on Tuesday.
Tuesday's release of annual earnings was the first since Alibaba announced in September the surprise departure of former CEO Daniel Zhang.
Zhang has since been replaced by Joseph Tsai as chairman and Eddie Wu as CEO. Both positions were held by Zhang prior to the reshuffle.
Fiscal year 2023 yielded lacklustre results, with annual revenue increasing by just two percent year-on-year.
Founded in the eastern city of Hangzhou in 1999 by entrepreneur-turned-celebrity Jack Ma, Alibaba is a key player in the country's digital sector and is considered a barometer of consumer spending in China.
Fellow internet giant Tencent posted weakened revenue growth in the first three months of this year, also on Tuesday.
Tencent said its first quarter revenue grew six percent, the weakest growth recorded by the firm in over a year as it continues its push into AI.
The Shenzhen-based company is one of the most valuable players in China's tech industry. It operates the country's ubiquitous "super-app" WeChat and offers diverse offerings in gaming, cloud computing, content streaming, and artificial intelligence.
Beijing has been seeking to increase state support for a flagging economy in recent months, as high youth unemployment and a spiralling debt crisis in the property sector threaten to drag down growth.
Retail sales growth -- a key gauge of consumer spending -- slowed to 3.1 percent year-on-year in March, official statistics showed last month, down from 5.5 percent in the first two months of 2024.
Tencent revenue growth slows in Q1, despite profit increase
Beijing (AFP) May 14, 2024 -
Chinese internet giant Tencent on Tuesday announced a six percent increase in quarterly revenue, the weakest growth recorded by the firm in over a year as it continues its push into AI.
The Shenzhen-based company is one of the most valuable players in China's tech industry, operating the country's ubiquitous "super-app" WeChat in addition to diverse offerings across gaming, cloud computing, content streaming and artificial intelligence.
Tencent achieved total revenue of just over $22 billion in the three-month period ending March 31, a filing to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange showed, up six percent from the same period last year.
The revenue growth figure was consistent with an average of analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg, which had also forecast an increase of six percent in the quarter.
Quarter-one revenue growth was down slightly from the seven percent increase posted in the final quarter of 2023, and the lowest since the final quarter of 2022.
The latest earnings report comes two months after Tencent posted its lowest annual profit since 2019, due in part to stagnating gaming revenue in the final quarter of 2023.
Decades of meteoric growth that turned China's tech industry into one of the most dynamic in the world came to an abrupt halt in 2020, when Beijing introduced more stringent oversight measures.
Authorities have since relaxed their approach to regulating the vital domestic tech sector as broader concerns about the health of China's economy mount.
Tencent and several of its Chinese tech industry peers -- including Huawei, Baidu and Alibaba -- have recently been eyeing the promising field of AI for the future development of their businesses.
Last September, Tencent unveiled Hunyuan, an AI-powered chatbot intended to compete with the US's ChatGPT, whose services are not accessible in China.
In a promising sign for the firm, net profit in the period totalled $5.8 billion, up 62 percent year-on-year, the filing also showed.
The profit growth was the strongest recorded by Tencent in any three-month period since the first quarter of 2021.
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