BRIEF: Alibaba Health’s profit surges on growing revenue, greater efficiencies

Online medical services provider Alibaba Health Information Technology Ltd. (0241.HK) said Wednesday its revenue rose 10.2% year-on-year to 14.27 billion yuan ($1.98 billion) in the six months through September. It credited the growth to a 67.5% jump in revenue from its pharmaceutical e-commerce platform business, which was partly offset by a 9.4% drop in revenue from its healthcare and digital services business.

The company’s net profit during the period, the first half of its fiscal year, surged by 72.5% to 770 million yuan. It attributed the strong gains to the revenue increase, as well as improving operational efficiencies for its self-operated pharmaceutical business, including its introduction of more top brands and expansion of its partnership channels.

The company’s stock rose 3.3% to HK$4.27 in early Thursday trade in Hong Kong.

By A. Au

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