Alibaba revenue up 61 percent fuelled by core e-commerce business

Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd said on Thursday its quarterly revenue climbed 61 percent, beating analysts' estimates, helped by growth in its core e-commerce business.

The firm, headed by billionaire entrepreneur Jack Ma, posted 55.12 billion yuan (£6.3 billion) in revenue for the July-September quarter, above a 52.2 billion yuan forecast from analysts polled by Reuters.

Net income more than doubled from a year ago to 17.41 billion yuan, growing at a faster clip than the previous two quarters.

The second quarter is often slower for Alibaba as it prepares for the annual blockbuster Singles' Day event on Nov. 11, a sales bonanza that shifts more goods than the Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales days in the United States combined.

Alibaba said revenue from its core e-commerce business hit 46.46 billion yuan, representing a 63 percent rise from the same quarter a year earlier.