Alibaba blasted a critical report published this week by a Chinese state regulator calling it an “inaccurate and unfair attack”, as the ecommerce company reported lower than expected revenue that sent the shares down more than 10 per cent yesterday.
Joe Tsai, executive vice-chairman, denied claims by the State Administration for Industry and Commerce that the company had been told of a probe and accompanying white paper on the sale of counterfeit goods on its markets last July. He also rejected suggestions that it had requested that publication of the report be delayed until after its initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange in September. “The first time we saw the white paper was when it was posted on the SAIC website yesterday,” said Mr Tsai. “We want to make it absolutely clear that Alibaba has never requested the SAIC to delay the publication of any report.”
The company announced a 40 per cent year-on-year increase in revenues in the quarter ended December to Rmb26.2bn ($4.2bn). Wall Street analysts had forecast they would be $4.4bn, according to a survey by Bloomberg.