(Beijing) In addition to quarterly results in line with expectations, Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba announced Thursday the cancellation of a plan to split its cloud computing branch due to American restrictions on computer chips.
The group reported turnover up 9% year-on-year in the July-September period, after several difficult years and against a backdrop of economic slowdown in China, which is weighing on consumption.
The group based in the large city of Hangzhou (east) is a key player in the digital economy in China and a precursor to the generalization of online shopping in its country.
As such, it is considered a barometer of consumption in its country.
The amount of sales for the July-September period amounted to 224.8 billion yuan (28.6 billion euros), a figure in line with the expectations of analysts surveyed by the Bloomberg agency.
“Alibaba Group delivered a strong quarter, marked by renewed momentum and energy across multiple businesses through our strategic reorganization,” Eddie Wu, the group’s CEO, said in a company statement.
He refers to the major restructuring plan announced in March.
Alibaba then planned to divide the group into six entities, five of which could be listed separately on the stock exchange.
But the company announced Thursday that it was canceling this project for the time being due to “the recent strengthening of American restrictions on the export of advanced computer chips.”
“We believe that a complete spin-off of Cloud Intelligence Group may not produce the desired effect of improving shareholder value,” Alibaba said in the press release announcing its quarterly results.
The United States has been trying for many months to limit Chinese companies’ access to cutting-edge technologies, including restrictions on exports to the Asian giant of semiconductors and the machines used for their manufacturing.
