Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE: BABA and HKEX: 9988, “Alibaba” or “Alibaba Group”) today announced its financial results for the quarter and fiscal year ended March 31, 2023.

“In an increasingly complex world, we have proactively transformed our organization to strengthen the competitiveness of our businesses through greater independence to address the evolving needs of different customers and capture new opportunities,” said Daniel Zhang, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Alibaba Group. “We are taking concrete steps towards unlocking value from our businesses and are pleased to announce that our board has approved a full spin-off of the Cloud Intelligence Group via a stock dividend distribution to shareholders, with intention for it to become an independent publicly listed company.”

“We have established a capital management committee at the Alibaba board level to undertake a comprehensive capital management plan to enhance shareholder value. Alibaba is committed to improving shareholders’ return through the implementation of a robust capital allocation framework,” said Toby Xu, Chief Financial Officer of Alibaba Group. “We are delighted to share that our board has approved the process to start external financing for Alibaba International Digital Commerce Business Group; exploration of IPO for Cainiao Smart Logistics Group; and execution of IPO for Freshippo.”

BUSINESS HIGHLIGHTS

In the quarter ended March 31, 2023:

• Revenue was RMB208,200 million (US$30,316 million), an increase of 2% year-over-year.
• Income from operations was RMB15,240 million (US$2,219 million), a decrease of 9% year-over-year. Excluding the impact of an item discussed in “March Quarter Other Financial Results — Income from operations and operating margin” below, income from operations would have increased by RMB11,569 million year-over-year. Adjusted EBITA, a non-GAAP measurement, increased by 60% or RMB9,469 million year-over-year to RMB25,280 million (US$3,681 million), primarily due to an increase in China commerce adjusted EBITA, as well as narrowed adjusted EBITA losses of Local consumer services and Digital media and entertainment.
• Net income attributable to ordinary shareholders was RMB23,516 million (US$3,424 million). Net income was RMB21,996 million (US$3,203 million), compared to net loss of RMB18,357 million in the same quarter last year, primarily due to net gains arising from the increases in the market prices of our equity investments in publicly-traded companies, compared to net losses from these investments in the same quarter last year, partly offset by the decrease in share of profit of equity method investees, the increase in impairment of investments and the decrease in income from operations as mentioned above. Except for the share of profit of equity method investees, we excluded these investment related net gains or losses from our non-GAAP measures. Non-GAAP net income was RMB27,375 million (US$3,986 million), an increase of 38% year-over-year.
• Diluted earnings per ADS was RMB9.00 (US$1.31) and diluted earnings per share was RMB1.12 (US$0.16 or HK$1.28). Non-GAAP diluted earnings per ADS was RMB10.71 (US$1.56), an increase of 35% year-over-year and non-GAAP diluted earnings per share was RMB1.34 (US$0.20 or HK$1.53), an increase of 35% year-over-year.
• Net cash provided by operating activities was RMB31,401 million (US$4,572 million). Free cash flow, a non-GAAP measurement of liquidity, was RMB32,267 million (US$4,698 million).

In the fiscal year ended March 31, 2023:

• Revenue was RMB868,687 million (US$126,491 million), an increase of 2% year-over-year.
• Income from operations was RMB100,351 million (US$14,612 million), an increase of 44% year-over-year. Excluding the impact of certain items discussed in “Full Fiscal Year Other Financial Results — Income from operations and operating margin” below, income from operations would have increased by RMB24,143 million year-over-year. Adjusted EBITA, a non-GAAP measurement, increased 13% or RMB17,514 million year-over-year to RMB147,911 million (US$21,538 million), primarily due to narrowed adjusted EBITA losses of Local consumer services, International commerce and Digital media and entertainment, as well as an increase in China commerce adjusted EBITA.
• Net income attributable to ordinary shareholders was RMB72,509 million (US$10,558 million) and net income was RMB65,573 million (US$9,548 million), showing year-over-year increases of 17% and 39%, respectively, primarily due to the increase in income from operations and the decrease in net losses arising from changes in the fair values of our equity investments, partly offset by the decrease in share of profit of equity method investees and the increase in impairment of investments. We excluded net gains or losses arising from the changes in fair value and impairment of our investments from our non-GAAP measures. Non-GAAP net income was RMB141,379 million (US$20,586 million), an increase of 4% year-over-year.
• Diluted earnings per ADS was RMB27.46 (US$4.00) and diluted earnings per share was RMB3.43 (US$0.50 or HK$3.92). Non-GAAP diluted earnings per ADS was RMB54.56 (US$7.94), an increase of 4% year-over-year and non-GAAP diluted earnings per share was RMB6.82 (US$0.99 or HK$7.79), an increase of 4% year-over-year.
• Net cash provided by operating activities was RMB199,752 million (US$29,086 million). Free cash flow, a non-GAAP measurement of liquidity, was RMB171,663 million (US$24,996 million).

Reconciliations of GAAP measures to non-GAAP measures presented above are included at the end of this results announcement.

BUSINESS AND STRATEGIC UPDATES

China Commerce

China commerce segment mainly includes our China commerce retail businesses such as Taobao, Tmall, Taobao Deals, Taocaicai, Freshippo, Tmall Supermarket, Sun Art, Tmall Global and Alibaba Health, as well as wholesale businesses including 1688.com.

For the quarter ended March 31, 2023, online physical goods GMV on Taobao and Tmall, excluding unpaid orders, declined mid-single-digit year-over-year. China’s consumption gradually recovered throughout the quarter ended March 31, 2023. In the month of March, online physical goods GMV growth on Taobao and Tmall, excluding unpaid orders, turned positive, driven by strong growth of fashion & accessories and healthcare categories.

We remain focused on improving the customer value proposition of our Taobao app by (i) increasing media content that strengthens consumer engagement, (ii) being more price competitive through more effective targeting and introduction of new marketing features and (iii) catering to consumers’ time-sensitive needs for high-frequency everyday necessities through our neighborhood retail businesses. In April, we started testing a new interface for Taobao app that aims at increasing front page exposure for livestreaming, channels for price competitive products and neighborhood shopping categories.

Taobao Deals, our value-for-money platform, continues to enrich product supply and enhance digital consumption experience for price sensitive consumers. For the quarter ended March 31, 2023, paid GMV of M2C products grew 26% year-over-year on Taobao and Taobao Deals. Taocaicai continues to drive category penetration in high purchase frequency categories of groceries and fresh produce on our China retail marketplaces. For the twelve months ended March 31, 2023, 62% of Taocaicai’s annual active consumers were first-time fresh produce buyers on our various platforms. During the quarter, both Taobao Deals and Taocaicai continued to narrow losses year-over-year.

For the quarter ended March 31, 2023, our direct sales and others revenue was RMB71,788 million (US$ 10,453 million), decreasing slightly by 1% year-over-year, mainly due to decrease in offline store sales, which was negatively affected by COVID-19 disruption in January and seasonal volatility from an earlier Chinese New Year, as well as normalizing grocery demand due to decrease in consumer hoarding behavior post-COVID-19. During the quarter, Freshippo continued to strengthen its merchandising capabilities and improve its operating efficiency that resulted in positive operating results.

International Commerce

Our International commerce retail businesses include Lazada, AliExpress, Trendyol and Daraz platforms. The combined order volume of these businesses grew 15% year-over-year for the quarter ended March 31, 2023.

During the quarter, AliExpress launched Choice, a new service to global consumers. Choice offers consumers a curation of great value products across an extensive range of categories. Consumers in selected countries enjoy free shipping, free returns and quality delivery guarantees when placing orders on Choice. By leveraging chartered flights and utilizing overseas warehouses, AliExpress has been able to offer these value-added services with shortened delivery time in key strategic countries. As a result, in the March quarter, Choice’s daily orders ramped up rapidly and contributed to double-digit order growth for AliExpress during the quarter.

In Southeast Asia, Lazada recorded double-digit order growth year-over-year during the quarter ended March 31, 2023. Through continuous improvement of user engagement program to most of the markets, Lazada continued to increase its buyer base. Lazada also continued to improve its monetization rate by offering more value-added services that resulted in improving revenue growth.

During the quarter, Trendyol mobilized its resources to provide aid and support for those affected by the major earthquakes that struck Türkiye in February. Year-over-year order growth rate in the quarter remained resilient, driven by the normalization of the Turkish business from March onwards as well as the strong order growth in new businesses.

Local Consumer Services

For the quarter ended March 31, 2023, order growth of Local consumer services exceeded 20%. Segment losses continued to narrow driven by improving overall business efficiency.

To-Home

Starting in February, Ele.me's GMV growth and order growth substantially increased due to improving consumer demand, increasing number of active merchants and effective scaling of our delivery capacity. For the quarter ended March 31, 2023, Ele.me's unit economics per order continued to be positive and improved year-over-year due to increased average order value and reduced delivery cost per order.

To-Destination

For the quarter ended March 31, 2023, year-over-year order growth of "To-Destination" businesses, which included Amap and Fliggy, increased rapidly due to the strong recovery in commuting and travel demand. In March, the number of average daily active users of Amap reached a new record high of 150 million, driven by increasing intra-city commute and inter-city travel demand. In March, Fliggy’s domestic hotel booking value grew over 70% compared to the same period in 2019 driven by a surge in business and recreational travel demand.

Cainiao

For the quarter ended March 31, 2023, revenue from Cainiao, before inter-segment elimination, grew 15% year-over-year to RMB18,915 million (US$2,754 million). In the quarter ended March 31, 2023, 72% of Cainiao’s total revenue was generated from external customers. Revenue from Cainiao, after inter-segment elimination, grew 18% year-over-year to RMB13,619 million (US$1,983 million), primarily driven by increasing revenue per order from international fulfillment solution services as well as increasing demand for consumer logistics services.

Cainiao continues to expand its international logistics network by strengthening its end-to-end logistics capabilities. With the aim of providing merchants with stable and cost-effective services, Cainiao continues to upgrade its overseas warehouse network and offers a wide range of logistics solutions, including cargo collection in China, international line-haul, overseas feeder services, as well as overseas last-mile delivery services. These capabilities have successfully supported our internal and external customers. For AliExpress Choice, Cainiao has upgraded its warehouse network to improve its parcel bundling and direct shipping capabilities, enabling merchants to achieve full-scale global logistics management for worldwide shipping. In March, Cainiao became the first China logistics partner of the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) , and through the partnership Cainiao will help WFP shorten delivery time of critical supplies during global emergency situations.

In China, Cainiao continues to expand its Cainiao Post network that offers a variety of value-added services. During the quarter ended March 31, 2023, Cainiao Post further increased its penetration of door-step parcel delivery service to customers, with door-step delivery parcels increasing by approximately 85% year-over-year.

Cloud

Our Cloud segment comprises Alibaba Cloud and DingTalk. For the quarter ended March 31, 2023, total revenue from our Cloud segment before inter-segment elimination, which includes revenue from services provided to other Alibaba businesses, was RMB24,559 million (US$3,576 million), a decline of 3% year-over-year. In the quarter ended March 31, 2023, revenue from our Cloud segment, after inter-segment elimination, was RMB18,582 million (US$2,706 million), a decline of 2% year-over-year. The year-over-year decrease in revenue of our Cloud segment reflected delays in delivery of hybrid cloud projects given the COVID-19 resurgence in January, normalization of CDN demand compared to the same period last year, as well as the impact from a top customer phasing out using our overseas cloud services for its international business due to non-product related reasons.

Our Cloud segment revenue is becoming more diversified with revenue contribution from non-Internet industries steadily increasing. During the quarter, after inter-segment elimination, revenue from non-internet industries grew healthily, driven by financial services, retail, media and automobile industries. For the quarter ended March 31, 2023, after inter-segment elimination, revenue contribution from non-Internet industries to Cloud segment revenue was 55%.

Alibaba Cloud

As a cloud computing product company, Alibaba Cloud has been committed to the research and development of core technologies of cloud computing, big data and AI as well as the promotion of computing power and AI. Through a series of initiatives we launched recently, we aim to further expand our public cloud customer base and increase cloud utilization, and to leverage the historic opportunity in generative AI to drive the growth of high-quality computing power for machine learning and services. We believe these initiatives will drive healthy and sustainable growth of Alibaba Cloud.

• Generative AI: In April, Alibaba Cloud unveiled its latest large language model (LLM), Tongyi Qianwen (通义千问). We plan to integrate new LLM into all business applications across Alibaba’s ecosystem in the near future to further enhance user experience. To enable enterprise customers to reap the benefits of AI-driven innovation, Alibaba Cloud will offer its clients access to Tongyi Qianwen on cloud and enable them to develop customized LLMs for their business scenarios. Since the announcement of the model, we have received over 200,000 beta testing requests from enterprise users across a broad range of sectors.
• Product Pricing: Recently, Alibaba Cloud has endorsed multiple actions to make computing more accessible and affordable. We announced a new instance family that provides the same level of stability and offers up to 40% cost savings. For existing products, we reduced the prices of some of our core utility products, including computing, storage, networking and security products, by up to 50%. We believe these moves will help our customers increase public cloud adoption in China as well as unlock emerging opportunities to leverage AI technology for enterprises.
• Partnership: At the 2023 Alibaba Cloud Partner Conference, Alibaba Cloud unveiled several initiatives to our partners, including the promotion of commission to our ecosystem partners, in order to further integrate our proprietary technology and products into our partners’ solutions to create value for our enterprise customers.

DingTalk

DingTalk, our intelligent collaboration workplace and application development platform, offers new ways of working, sharing and collaboration for modern enterprises and organizations. During the 2023 DingTalk Spring Summit on April 18, 2023, DingTalk unveiled the integration of intelligent capabilities based on Alibaba's Tongyi Qianwen LLM into its product. Users can activate multiple AI capabilities by typing the slash symbol (/), including article creation, meeting notes summary, image generation, DingTalk mini-app building and robot training. As a PaaS platform, DingTalk will further help customers and ecosystem partners to unlock the potential of AI capabilities.

Digital Media and Entertainment

For the quarter ended March 31, 2023, Youku’s total subscription revenue grew 13% year-over-year, primarily driven by increasing ARPU as well as benefiting from high-quality original content such as Who Is He (他是谁) and The Blood of Youth (少年歌行). In the March quarter, demand for offline ticketing services normalized, resulting in strong growth in businesses such as Damai and Taopiaopiao.

Updates on ESG Initiatives

Progress in decarbonization

We have been committed to promoting decarbonization across our platform ecosystem. In the past quarter, we cooperated with the China National Institute of Standardization and other professional institutions to release four low-carbon related standards. On April 22 Earth Day, we launched "88 Decarbonization Day" to promote the importance and environmental benefits of low-carbon products to customers.

Supporting the building of socioeconomic resilience

In the past quarter, we helped small and medium enterprises and underdeveloped regions build resilience for better development.

• Taobao and Tmall: Taobao and Tmall helped new merchants improve their operations by offering them various operational assistance, including providing logistics support, business decision support, and development funding.
• 1688.com: 1688.com launched the “Warm Spring Recovery” campaign to help manufacturers attract new customers and provide marketing, financial and logistics support.
• Cainiao: Cainiao opened rural medical emergency warehouses in six key cities across China and continued to increase investment in warehousing and transport capacity in rural areas to improve overall emergency logistics capabilities for rural areas.

Share Repurchases

During the quarter ended March 31, 2023, we repurchased 21.5 million ADSs (the equivalent of 172.4 million ordinary shares) for approximately US$1.9 billion under our share repurchase program. As of March 31, 2023, we had 20.5 billion ordinary shares (the equivalent of approximately 2.6 billion ADSs) outstanding, and approximately US$19.4 billion remaining under the current authorization, effective through March 2025.

THE RESTRUCTURING

On March 28, 2023, we announced a new organizational and governance structure to empower all our businesses to become more agile, enhance decision making, enable faster responses to market changes and promote innovation to capture opportunities, thereby unlocking shareholder value.

Business Group Directors and CEOs

Under our new structure, Alibaba Group is the holding company of the six major business groups and various other businesses. Each of the six major business groups is independently managed by its own chief executive officer and board of directors (or equivalent governing body). The director and CEO candidates of these major business groups are subject to the approval and appointment of Alibaba Group’s board of directors.

The directors and CEOs of the six major business groups approved by Alibaba Group’s board of directors are:

Capital Management Committee

Our board of directors has formed a new capital management committee to undertake a comprehensive capital management plan to enhance shareholder value. This committee will review and decide important matters relating to Alibaba Group’s activities as a holding company, including capital market transactions, shareholder return initiatives, subsidiary equity incentive plans, fundraisings, initial public offerings and spin-offs. The committee is chaired by Mr. Daniel Zhang, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, and the members are Mr. Joseph C. Tsai, Director and Executive Vice Chairman, Mr. J. Michael Evans, Director and President, and Ms. Maggie Wu, Director and former Chief Financial Officer.

Business Group Spin-offs and Capital Raisings

As previously announced, five of our major business groups will have the flexibility to raise external capital and potentially to seek its own initial public offering, with the exception of Taobao & Tmall Group, which will remain wholly-owned by Alibaba Group.

Our board of directors approved the following transactions as the initial phase of our capital management planning:

Cloud Intelligence Group Spin-Off

Our board of directors approved a full spin-off of the Cloud Intelligence Group via a stock dividend distribution to our shareholders. Prior to the spin-off, we plan to include external strategic investors in Cloud Intelligence Group through private financings. In connection with the spin-off, Cloud Intelligence Group intends to become an independent publicly listed company. The spin-off will be subject to restructuring of certain assets, liabilities and contracts, implementation of employee equity incentive plans, market conditions, as well as regulatory reviews and approvals in relevant jurisdictions. We intend to structure the spin-off in the most tax-efficient way for our shareholders. Subject to the transactions, conditions and approvals described above, we target to complete the spin-off in the next 12 months.

External Capital Raising for Alibaba International Digital Commerce Group

Our board of directors approved the commencement of a process to explore raising external capital for the Alibaba International Digital Commerce Group to support its development and growth. The capital raising will assist the business group to expand into new geographic markets, invest in new technologies, grow its consumer and supplier base, strengthen its management team and develop and enhance its products and services to its customers globally.

Initial Public Offering Plan of Cainiao Smart Logistics

Our board of directors approved the commencement of a process to explore an initial public offering of Cainiao Smart Logistics. The group provides supply chain, logistics and delivery services to consumers and merchants that are customers of Taobao & Tmall Group and Alibaba International Digital Commerce Group, as well as third party customers. Alibaba Group holds a 67% equity interest in Cainiao Smart Logistics. Other shareholders in the business group include strategic investors in the logistics industry and global institutional investors. We target to complete the initial public offering in the next 12 to 18 months.

Initial Public Offering Plan of Freshippo (Hema)

Our board of directors approved the commencement of a process to execute an initial public offering of Freshippo (Hema), our new retail business. We expect the initial public offering will be completed in the next 6 to 12 months.

The successful execution of the above transactions is subject to various factors, many of which are out of our control, including without limitation, successful restructurings of assets, liabilities and contracts, implementation of equity incentive plans, market conditions and regulatory reviews and approvals.

Compliance and Risk Committee

Our board of directors has established a compliance and risk committee to oversee Alibaba Group’s overall regulatory compliance and risks in key areas other than financial reporting (financial reporting will continue to be overseen by the audit committee), such as cybersecurity, data privacy and security, IP protection and other regulatory compliance matters. A majority of the compliance and risk committee members are independent directors. The committee is chaired by Ms. Irene Lee, and the members are Mr. Albert Ng, Mr. Kabir Misra, Mr. Daniel Zhang and Mr. J. Michael Evans.

MARCH QUARTER SUMMARY FINANCIAL RESULTS

MARCH QUARTER INFORMATION BY SEGMENTS

The table below sets forth selected financial information of our operating segments for the periods indicated:

MARCH QUARTER SEGMENT RESULTS

Revenue

Revenue for the quarter ended March 31, 2023 was RMB208,200 million (US$30,316 million), an increase of 2% compared to RMB204,052 million in the same quarter of 2022.

The following table sets forth a breakdown of our revenue by segment for the periods indicated:

China Commerce

(i) Segment revenue

• China Commerce Retail Business

Revenue from our China commerce retail business in the quarter ended March 31, 2023 was RMB132,062 million (US$19,230 million), a decrease of 3% compared to RMB135,696 million in the same quarter of 2022.

Customer management revenue decreased by 5% year-over-year, primarily due to the mid-single-digit decline of online physical goods GMV generated on Taobao and Tmall, excluding unpaid orders year-over-year.

Direct sales and others revenue under China commerce retail business in the quarter ended March 31, 2023 was RMB71,788 million (US$10,453 million), decreasing slightly by 1% year-over-year, compared to RMB72,275 million in the same quarter of 2022, mainly due to decrease in offline store sales, which was negatively affected by the COVID-19 disruption in January and seasonal volatility from an earlier Chinese New Year, as well as normalizing grocery demand due to decrease in consumer hoarding behavior post-COVID-19.

• China Commerce Wholesale Business

Revenue from our China commerce wholesale business in the quarter ended March 31, 2023 was RMB4,011 million (US$584 million), a decrease of 8% compared to RMB4,383 million in the same quarter of 2022.

(ii) Segment adjusted EBITA

China commerce adjusted EBITA increased by 19% to RMB38,487 million (US$5,604 million) in the quarter ended March 31, 2023, compared to RMB32,234 million in the same quarter of 2022. The increase was primarily due to reduced loss of Taobao Deals, Taocaicai and Freshippo. Adjusted EBITA margin increased from 23% in the quarter ended March 31, 2022 to 28% in the quarter ended March 31, 2023. During the quarter ended March 31, 2023, Taobao Deals and Taocaicai significantly narrowed losses year-over-year, mainly driven by optimized spending in user acquisition and improving overall operating efficiency. Freshippo continued to strengthen its merchandising capabilities and improve its operating efficiency that resulted in positive operating results that resulted in positive operating results.

International Commerce

(i) Segment revenue

• International Commerce Retail Business

Revenue from our International commerce retail business in the quarter ended March 31, 2023 was RMB13,967 million (US$2,034 million), an increase of 41% compared to RMB9,887 million in the same quarter of 2022. The increase was primarily due to the growth in revenue generated by Trendyol, Lazada and AliExpress. The increase in revenue from Trendyol resulted from more efficient use of subsidies and robust year-over-year order growth. The increase in revenue from Lazada is driven by the continuous improvement in monetization rate by offering more value-added services and the robust year-over-year order growth. The increase in revenue from AliExpress was driven by the double-digit order growth of AliExpress, accelerated by the direct sales and fulfillment services, with the launch of a new service Choice to global consumers.

• International Commerce Wholesale Business

Revenue from our International commerce wholesale business in the quarter ended March 31, 2023 was RMB4,574 million (US$666 million), an increase of 3% compared to RMB4,448 million in the same quarter of 2022.

(ii) Segment adjusted EBITA

International commerce adjusted EBITA was a loss of RMB2,330 million (US$339 million) in the quarter ended March 31, 2023, compared to a loss of RMB2,563 million in the same quarter of 2022. The decrease in loss year-over-year was primarily due to the reduced loss from Trendyol, partly offset by the increased loss from Lazada. The reduced loss from Trendyol is primarily due to revenue growth and enhanced operating efficiency. The increased loss from Lazada is primarily due to a one-off early termination expense in connection with renegotiating new service contracts to reduce future operating costs, which was partly offset by the continuous improvement in monetization rate by offering more value-added services as well as enhanced operating efficiency.

Local Consumer Services

(i) Segment revenue

Revenue from Local consumer services, which includes “To-Home” and “To-Destination” businesses such as Ele.me, Amap and Fliggy, was RMB12,549 million (US$1,827 million) in the quarter ended March 31, 2023, an increase of 17% compared to RMB10,696 million in the same quarter of 2022, primarily due to GMV growth of Ele.me driven by order growth and higher average order value.

(ii) Segment adjusted EBITA

Local consumer services adjusted EBITA was a loss of RMB4,153 million (US$605 million) in the quarter ended March 31, 2023, compared to a loss of RMB5,568 million in the same quarter of 2022, primarily due to the continued narrowing of loss from our “To-Home” business driven by Ele.me’s improved unit economics per order, which was due to increased average order value and reduced delivery cost per order year-over-year.

Cainiao

(i) Segment revenue

Revenue from Cainiao, which represents revenue from its domestic and international one-stop-shop logistics services and supply chain management solutions, after inter-segment elimination, was RMB13,619 million (US$1,983 million) in the quarter ended March 31, 2023, an increase of 18% compared to RMB11,582 million in the same quarter of 2022, primarily driven by increasing revenue per order from international fulfillment solution services as well as increasing demand for consumer logistics services.

Total revenue generated by Cainiao, before inter-segment elimination, which includes revenue from services provided to other Alibaba businesses, was RMB18,915 million (US$2,754 million), an increase of 15% compared to RMB16,451 million in the same quarter of 2022.

(ii) Segment adjusted EBITA

Cainiao adjusted EBITA was a loss of RMB319 million (US$46 million) in the quarter ended March 31, 2023, compared to a loss of RMB912 million in the same quarter of 2022.

Cloud

(i) Segment revenue

Revenue from our Cloud segment, after inter-segment elimination, was RMB18,582 million (US$2,706 million) in the quarter ended March 31, 2023, a decline of 2% compared to RMB18,971 million in the same quarter of 2022. The year-over-year decrease in revenue of our Cloud segment reflected delays in delivery of hybrid cloud projects given the COVID-19 resurgence in January and normalization of CDN demand compared to the same period last year, as well as the impact from a top customer phasing out using our overseas cloud services for its international business due to non-product related reasons.

Total revenue from our Cloud business, before inter-segment elimination, which includes revenue from services provided to other Alibaba businesses, was RMB24,559 million (US$3,576 million), decrease of 3% compared to RMB25,230 million in the same quarter of 2022.

(ii) Segment adjusted EBITA

Cloud adjusted EBITA was RMB385 million (US$56 million) in the quarter ended March 31, 2023, compared to RMB276 million in the same quarter of 2022.

Digital Media and Entertainment

(i) Segment revenue

Revenue from our Digital media and entertainment segment in the quarter ended March 31, 2023 was RMB8,273 million (US$1,204 million), an increase of 3%, compared to RMB8,005 million in the same quarter of 2022.

(ii) Segment adjusted EBITA

Digital media and entertainment adjusted EBITA in the quarter ended March 31, 2023 was a loss of RMB1,102 million (US$160 million), compared to a loss of RMB1,966 million in the same quarter of 2022, primarily due to the narrowing of loss from Youku driven by disciplined investment in content and production capability.

Innovation Initiatives and Others

(i) Segment revenue

Revenue from Innovation initiatives and others was RMB563 million (US$82 million) in the quarter ended March 31, 2023, an increase of 47% compared to RMB384 million in the same quarter of 2022.

(ii) Segment adjusted EBITA

Innovation initiatives and others adjusted EBITA in the quarter ended March 31, 2023 was a loss of RMB1,830 million (US$267 million), compared to a loss of RMB2,452 million in the same quarter of 2022.

MARCH QUARTER OTHER FINANCIAL RESULTS

Costs and Expenses

The following tables set forth a breakdown of our costs and expenses, share-based compensation expense and costs and expenses excluding share-based compensation expense by function for the periods indicated.

Cost of revenue – Cost of revenue in the quarter ended March 31, 2023 was RMB138,823 million (US$20,214 million), or 67% of revenue, compared to RMB138,945 million, or 68% of revenue, in the same quarter of 2022. Without the effect of share-based compensation expense, cost of revenue as a percentage of revenue would have decreased from 68% in the quarter ended March 31, 2022 to 66% in the quarter ended March 31, 2023.

Product development expenses – Product development expenses in the quarter ended March 31, 2023 were RMB13,880 million (US$2,021 million), or 7% of revenue, compared to RMB10,944 million, or 5% of revenue, in the same quarter of 2022. Without the effect of share-based compensation expense, product development expenses as a percentage of revenue would have decreased from 6% in the quarter ended March 31, 2022 to 5% in the quarter ended March 31, 2023.

Sales and marketing expenses – Sales and marketing expenses in the quarter ended March 31, 2023 were RMB24,931 million (US$3,630 million), or 12% of revenue, compared to RMB27,200 million, or 13% of revenue, in the same quarter of 2022. Without the effect of share-based compensation expense, sales and marketing expenses as a percentage of revenue would have decreased from 13% in the quarter ended March 31, 2022 to 12% in the quarter ended March 31, 2023.

General and administrative expenses – General and administrative expenses in the quarter ended March 31, 2023 were RMB12,832 million (US$1,869 million), or 6% of revenue, compared to RMB7,415 million, or 4% of revenue, in the same quarter of 2022. Without the effect of share-based compensation expense, general and administrative expenses as a percentage of revenue would have remained stable at 5% in the quarter ended March 31, 2023 compared to the quarter ended March 31, 2022.

Share-based compensation expense – Total share-based compensation expense included in the cost and expense items above in the quarter ended March 31, 2023 was RMB7,546 million (US$1,099 million), compared to a net reversal of RMB3,737 million in the same quarter of 2022.

The following table sets forth our analysis of share-based compensation expense for the periods indicated by type of share-based awards:

Share-based compensation expense related to Alibaba Group share-based awards decreased in the quarter ended March 31, 2023 compared to the same quarter of 2022. This decrease was primarily due to the general decrease in the average fair market value of the awards granted.

Share-based compensation expense related to Ant Group share-based awards was a net reversal for the quarter ended March 31, 2022 because we recognized a decrease in the value of such awards.

We expect that our share-based compensation expense will continue to be affected by changes in the fair value of the underlying awards and the quantity of awards we grant in the future.

Amortization of intangible assets – Amortization of intangible assets in the quarter ended March 31, 2023 was RMB2,494 million (US$363 million), a decrease of 12% from RMB2,831 million in the same quarter of 2022.

Income from operations and operating margin

Income from operations in the quarter ended March 31, 2023 was RMB15,240 million (US$2,219 million), or 7% of revenue, compared to RMB16,717 million, or 8% of revenue, in the same quarter of 2022. The year-over-year decrease was primarily due to a reversal of share-based compensation expense of RMB13,046 million related to the mark-to-market adjustment of Ant Group share-based awards granted to our employees in the same quarter last year, partly offset by an increase in adjusted EBITA. We excluded share-based compensation expense from our non-GAAP measurements. Excluding the impact of the reversal of share-based compensation expense, our income from operations would have increased by RMB11,569 million year-over-year, from RMB3,671 million in the quarter ended March 31, 2022 to RMB15,240 million (US$2,219 million) in the quarter ended March 31, 2023.

Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITA

Adjusted EBITDA increased 37% year-over-year to RMB32,123 million (US$4,677 million) in the quarter ended March 31, 2023, compared to RMB23,373 million in the same quarter of 2022. Adjusted EBITA increased 60% or RMB9,469 million year-over-year to RMB25,280 million (US$3,681 million) in the quarter ended March 31, 2023, compared to RMB15,811 million in the same quarter of 2022. The year-over-year increases were primarily due to an increase in China commerce adjusted EBITA, as well as narrowed adjusted EBITA losses of Local consumer services and Digital media and entertainment. A reconciliation of net income to adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EBITA is included at the end of this results announcement.

Adjusted EBITA and adjusted EBITA margin by segments

Adjusted EBITA and adjusted EBITA margin by segments as well as a reconciliation of income from operations to adjusted EBITA are set forth in “March Quarter Information by Segments” above.

Interest and investment income, net

Interest and investment income, net in the quarter ended March 31, 2023 was a gain of RMB10,496 million (US$1,528 million), compared to a loss of RMB36,708 million in the quarter ended March 31, 2022, primarily due to net gains arising from the increases in the market prices of our equity investments in publicly-traded companies, compared to net losses from these investments in the same quarter last year, which is generally consistent with the market trend.

The above-mentioned gains and losses were excluded from our non-GAAP net income.

Other income, net

Other income, net in the quarter ended March 31, 2023 was RMB1,308 million (US$191 million), compared to RMB1,620 million in the same quarter of 2022.

Income tax expenses

Income tax expenses in the quarter ended March 31, 2023 were RMB3,758 million (US$547 million), compared to RMB2,079 million in the same quarter of 2022.

Excluding share-based compensation expense, revaluation and disposal gains/losses of investments, impairment of investments, as well as the deferred tax effects on basis differences arising from our equity method investees, our effective tax rate would have been 17% in the quarter ended March 31, 2023.

Share of results of equity method investees

Share of results of equity method investees in the quarter ended March 31, 2023 was RMB446 million (US$65 million), compared to RMB3,282 million in the same quarter of 2022. The following table sets forth a breakdown of share of results of equity method investees for the periods indicated.

We record our share of results of all equity method investees one quarter in arrears. The year-over-year decrease in share of profit of Ant Group was mainly due to decrease in net investment gains from the investments of Ant Group previously made.

Net income and Non-GAAP net income

Our net income in the quarter ended March 31, 2023 was RMB21,996 million (US$3,203 million), compared to net loss of RMB18,357 million in the same quarter of 2022, primarily attributable to net gains arising from the increases in the market prices of our equity investments in publicly-traded companies, compared to net losses from these investments in the same quarter last year, partly offset by the decrease in share of profit of equity method investees, the increase in impairment of investments and the decrease in income from operations.

Excluding the share-based compensation expense, revaluation and disposal gains/losses of investments, impairment of investments and certain other items, non-GAAP net income in the quarter ended March 31, 2023 was RMB27,375 million (US$3,986 million), an increase of 38% compared to RMB19,799 million in the same quarter of 2022. A reconciliation of net income to non-GAAP net income is included at the end of this results announcement.

Net income attributable to ordinary shareholders

Net income attributable to ordinary shareholders in the quarter ended March 31, 2023 was RMB23,516 million (US$3,424 million), compared to net loss of RMB16,241 million in the same quarter of 2022. The year-over-year increase was primarily attributable to net gains arising from the increases in the market prices of our equity investments in publicly-traded companies, compared to net losses from these investments in the same quarter last year, partly offset by the decrease in share of profit of equity method investees, the increase in impairment of investments and the decrease in income from operations.

Diluted earnings per ADS/share and non-GAAP diluted earnings per ADS/share

Diluted earnings per ADS in the quarter ended March 31, 2023 was RMB9.00 (US$1.31), compared to diluted loss per ADS of RMB6.07 in the same quarter in 2022. Excluding the share-based compensation expense, revaluation and disposal gains/losses of investments, impairment of investments and certain other items, non-GAAP diluted earnings per ADS in the quarter ended March 31, 2023 was RMB10.71 (US$1.56), an increase of 35% compared to RMB7.95 in the same quarter of 2022.

Diluted earnings per share in the quarter ended March 31, 2023 was RMB1.12 (US$0.16 or HK$1.28), compared to diluted loss per share of RMB0.76 in the same quarter of 2022. Excluding the share-based compensation expense, revaluation and disposal gains/losses of investments, impairment of investments and certain other items, non-GAAP diluted earnings per share in the quarter ended March 31, 2023 was RMB1.34 (US$0.20 or HK$1.53), an increase of 35% compared to RMB0.99 in the same quarter of 2022.

A reconciliation of diluted earnings per ADS/share to non-GAAP diluted earnings per ADS/share is included at the end of this results announcement. Each ADS represents eight ordinary shares.

Net cash provided by operating activities and free cash flow

Net cash from operating activities in the quarter ended March 31, 2023 was an inflow of RMB31,401 million (US$4,572 million), compared to an outflow of RMB7,040 million in the same quarter of 2022. Free cash flow, a non-GAAP measurement of liquidity, was an inflow of RMB32,267 million (US$4,698 million) in the quarter ended March, 2023, compared to an outflow of RMB15,070 million in the same quarter of 2022, during which we made a payment of the final installment in the amount of RMB9,114 million of the RMB18,228 million Anti-monopoly Fine. The year-over-year increase also reflected the dividend received from Ant Group of RMB10,519 million (US$1,532 million) in the quarter ended March 31, 2023, narrowing losses of certain businesses driven by improving operating efficiency, as well as the decrease in capital expenditure. A reconciliation of net cash provided by operating activities to free cash flow is included at the end of this results announcement.

Net cash used in investing activities

During the quarter ended March 31, 2023, net cash used in investing activities of RMB26,808 million (US$3,904 million) primarily reflected (i) an increase in other treasury investments by RMB12,803 million (US$1,864 million), (ii) an increase in short-term investments by RMB11,863 million (US$1,727 million), (iii) cash outflow of RMB7,492 million (US$1,091 million) for investment and acquisition activities, and (iv) capital expenditures of RMB3,478 million (US$506 million). These cash outflows were partially offset by cash inflow of RMB8,970 million (US$1,306 million) from disposal of investments.

Net cash used in financing activities

During the quarter ended March 31, 2023, net cash used in financing activities of RMB9,319 million (US$1,357 million) primarily reflected cash used in repurchase of ordinary shares of RMB12,611 million (US$1,836 million), partially offset by net proceeds from bank borrowings of RMB3,294 million (US$480million).

Employees

As of March 31, 2023, we had a total of 235,216 employees, compared to 239,740 as of December 31, 2022.

FULL FISCAL YEAR SUMMARY FINANCIAL RESULTS

FULL FISCAL YEAR INFORMATION BY SEGMENTS

The table below sets forth selected financial information of our operating segments for fiscal year 2023:

FULL FISCAL YEAR SEGMENT RESULTS

Revenue

Revenue in fiscal year 2023 was RMB868,687 million (US$126,491 million), an increase of 2% compared to RMB853,062 million in fiscal year 2022.

The following table sets forth a breakdown of our revenue by segment for the periods indicated:

China Commerce

(i) Segment revenue

• China Commerce Retail Business

Revenue from our China commerce retail business in fiscal year 2023 was RMB565,332 million (US$82,319 million), a decrease of 2% compared to RMB574,868 million in fiscal year 2022. Customer management revenue decreased by 8% year-over-year, primarily due to mid-single-digit decline of online physical goods GMV generated on Taobao and Tmall, excluding unpaid orders year-over-year, which was mainly due to soft consumption demand and ongoing competition as well as supply chain and logistics disruptions due to COVID-19.

Direct sales and others revenue under China commerce retail business in fiscal year 2023 was RMB274,954 million (US$40,037 million), an increase of 6% compared to RMB259,830 million in fiscal year 2022, primarily due to the revenue growth contributed by our Freshippo and Alibaba Health’s direct sales businesses.

• China Commerce Wholesale Business

Revenue from our China commerce wholesale business in fiscal year 2023 was RMB17,399 million (US$2,533 million), an increase of 4% compared to RMB16,712 million in fiscal year 2022. The increase was primarily due to the increase in revenue from value-added services to paying members.

(ii) Segment adjusted EBITA

China commerce adjusted EBITA increased by 1% to RMB184,862 million (US$26,918 million) in fiscal year 2023, compared to RMB182,431 million in fiscal year 2022. The increase was primarily due to reduced losses of Taobao Deals, Freshippo and Taocaicai, partly offset by a decrease in profit from customer management services. Adjusted EBITA margin increased from 31% in fiscal year 2022 to 32% in fiscal year 2023. During fiscal year 2023, Taobao Deals significantly narrowed losses year-over-year, driven by optimized spending in user acquisition. Freshippo significantly narrowed losses year-over-year, as Freshippo continued to strengthen its merchandising capabilities and improve its operating efficiency. Taocaicai significantly narrowed losses year-over-year, driven by improving overall operating efficiency.

International Commerce

(i) Segment revenue

• International Commerce Retail Business

Revenue from our International commerce retail business in fiscal year 2023 was RMB49,873 million (US$7,262 million), an increase of 17% compared to RMB42,668 million in fiscal year 2022. The increase was mainly attributable to the growth in revenue generated by Trendyol and Lazada. The increase in revenue from Trendyol resulted from more efficient use of subsidies and robust year-over-year order growth. Increase in revenue contributed by Lazada was the result of continuous improvement in monetization rate by offering more value-added services.

• International Commerce Wholesale Business

Revenue from our International commerce wholesale business in fiscal year 2023 was RMB19,331 million (US$2,815 million), an increase of 5% compared to RMB18,410 million in fiscal year 2022. The increase was primarily due to increases in revenue generated by cross-border related value-added services.

(ii) Segment adjusted EBITA

International commerce adjusted EBITA was a loss of RMB5,620 million (US$818 million) in fiscal year 2023, compared to a loss of RMB8,991 million in fiscal year 2022. The decrease in loss year-over-year was primarily due to the reduced losses from Trendyol and Lazada. The reduced loss from Trendyol is primarily due to revenue growth and enhanced operating efficiency. Narrowing of loss from Lazada was a result of continuous improvement in monetization rate by offering more value-added services as well as enhanced operating efficiency.

Local Consumer Services

(i) Segment revenue

Revenue from Local consumer services was RMB50,112 million (US$7,297 million) in fiscal year 2023, an increase of 12% compared to RMB44,616 million in fiscal year 2022, primarily driven by higher average order value of Ele.me and strong order growth of Amap.

(ii) Segment adjusted EBITA

Local consumer services adjusted EBITA was a loss of RMB14,021 million (US$2,041 million) in fiscal year 2023, compared to a loss of RMB22,092 million in fiscal year 2022, primarily due to the continued narrowing of loss from our “To-Home” business. Narrowing of loss from our “To-Home” business was driven by Ele.me’s improved unit economics per order, which was due to increased average order value and reduced delivery cost per order year-over-year.

Cainiao

(i) Segment revenue

Revenue from Cainiao, which represents revenue from its domestic and international one-stop-shop logistics services and supply chain management solutions, after inter-segment elimination, was RMB55,681 million (US$8,108 million) in fiscal year 2023, an increase of 21% compared to RMB46,107 million in fiscal year 2022, primarily contributed by the increase in revenue from domestic consumer logistics services as a result of service model upgrade since late 2021 whereby Cainiao took on more responsibilities throughout the logistics process to better serve customers and enhance customer experience, as well as the increase in revenue from international fulfillment solution services.

Total revenue generated by Cainiao, before inter-segment elimination, which includes revenue from services provided to other Alibaba businesses, was RMB77,512 million (US$11,287 million), an increase of 16% compared to RMB66,808 million in fiscal year 2022.

(ii) Segment adjusted EBITA

Cainiao adjusted EBITA was a loss of RMB391 million (US$57 million) in fiscal year 2023, compared to a loss of RMB1,465 million in fiscal year 2022, mainly due to improved operating results from International fulfillment solution service and improved operating efficiency in consumer logistics services and domestic fulfillment solution services.

Cloud

(i) Segment revenue

Revenue from our Cloud segment, after inter-segment elimination, was RMB77,203 million (US$11,242 million) in fiscal year 2023, an increase of 4% year-over-year compared to RMB74,568 million in fiscal year 2022. Year-over-year revenue growth of our Cloud segment reflected the revenue growth from non-Internet industries driven by solid growth of revenue from financial services, automobile and retail industries, which was partially offset by the decline in revenue from customers in the Internet industry mainly driven by declining revenue from a top customer in the Internet industry phasing out using our overseas cloud services for its international business due to non-product related reasons.

Total revenue from our Cloud business, before inter-segment elimination, which includes revenue from services provided to other Alibaba businesses, was RMB101,950 million (US$14,845 million), an increase of 2% compared to RMB100,180 million in fiscal year 2022.

(ii) Segment adjusted EBITA

Cloud adjusted EBITA was RMB1,422 million (US$207 million) in fiscal year 2023, compared to RMB1,146 million in fiscal year 2022.

Digital Media and Entertainment

(i) Segment revenue

Revenue from our Digital media and entertainment segment in fiscal year 2023 was RMB31,482 million (US$4,584 million), a decrease of 2%, compared to RMB32,272 million in fiscal year 2022.

(ii) Segment adjusted EBITA

Digital media and entertainment adjusted EBITA in fiscal year 2023 was a loss of RMB1,874 million (US$273 million), compared to a loss of RMB4,690 million in fiscal year 2022, primarily due to the narrowing of loss from Youku driven by disciplined investment in content and production capability.

Innovation Initiatives and Others

(i) Segment revenue

Revenue from Innovation initiatives and others was RMB2,274 million (US$331 million) in fiscal year 2023, a decrease of 20% compared to RMB2,841 million in fiscal year 2022.

(ii) Segment adjusted EBITA

Innovation initiatives and others adjusted EBITA in fiscal year 2023 was a loss of RMB6,907 million (US$1,006 million), compared to a loss of RMB7,129 million in fiscal year 2022.

FULL FISCAL YEAR OTHER FINANCIAL RESULTS

Costs and Expenses

The following tables set forth a breakdown of our costs and expenses, share-based compensation expense and costs and expenses excluding share-based compensation expense by function for the periods indicated.

Cost of revenue – Cost of revenue in fiscal year 2023 was RMB549,695 million (US$80,042 million), or 63% of revenue, compared to RMB539,450 million, or 63% of revenue, in fiscal year 2022. Without the effect of share-based compensation expense, cost of revenue as a percentage of revenue would have remained stable at 62% in fiscal year 2023 compared to fiscal year 2022.

Product development expenses – Product development expenses in fiscal year 2023 were RMB56,744 million (US$8,263 million), or 7% of revenue, compared to RMB55,465 million, or 7% of revenue, in fiscal year 2022. Without the effect of share-based compensation expense, product development expenses as a percentage of revenue would have decreased from 6% in fiscal year 2022 to 5% in fiscal year 2023.

Sales and marketing expenses – Sales and marketing expenses in fiscal year 2023 were RMB103,496 million (US$15,070 million), or 12% of revenue, compared to RMB119,799 million, or 14% of revenue, in fiscal year 2022. Without the effect of share-based compensation expense, sales and marketing expenses as a percentage of revenue would have decreased from 14% in fiscal year 2022 to 12% in fiscal year 2023.

General and administrative expenses – General and administrative expenses in fiscal year 2023 were RMB42,183 million (US$6,142 million), or 5% of revenue, compared to RMB31,922 million, or 4% of revenue. Without the effect of share-based compensation expense, general and administrative expenses as a percentage of revenue would have increased from 3% in fiscal year 2022 to 4% in fiscal year 2023.

Share-based compensation expense – Total share-based compensation expense included in the cost and expense items above in fiscal year 2023 was RMB30,831 million (US$4,489 million), an increase of 29% compared to RMB23,971 million in fiscal year 2022. Share-based compensation expense as a percentage of revenue increased to 4% in fiscal year 2023, as compared to 3% in fiscal year 2022.

The following table sets forth our analysis of share-based compensation expense for the periods indicated by type of share-based awards: