(MENAFN - Asia Times) Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group has reported the fastest growth rate since its listing in more than four years, The Paper reported.

In the latest first quarter financial report for FY 2019, Alibaba's revenue increased by 61% to reach 80.92 billion yuan (US$11.77 billion) in the quarter ending on June 30, beating analysts' expectations.

However, the company's net profit for the quarter fell 41% to 8.69 billion yuan. In terms of profit margin, the diluted earnings after deducting non-recurring gains and losses was 8.04 yuan per share, lower than analysts' expectations.

The company said that the decreasing profit rate is related to the incentives granted to their employees, via the Ant Financial Stock Award.

Due to the substantial increase in the valuation of Alibaba's fintech arm, the total expenses of the equity incentives given to the Ant Financial employees reached a record high of 16.37 billion yuan.

The financial report shows that excluding the impact of the equity incentives expenses, Alibaba's profit increased by 33% in the quarter.

The daily<> Must-reads from across Asia - directly to your inbox <> <> <> <> China Digest Business China Alibaba Group Ant Financial Ant Financial Stock Award fintech Comments

MENAFN2408201801590000ID1097337435