The results show just how profitable the Chinese fintech giants are as they prepare for mega-offerings
The Chinese fintech giant, backed by billionaire Jack Ma,
a subsidiary of the ant group has raised nearly $ 3.5 billion over the past six-month period,
demonstrating just how profitable the company’s business is as it prepares for a massive initial public offering.
Financial results released Thursday by The Jack Ma Alibaba Group Holdings Ltd.,
Alibaba -1.01% holding a 33% stake in Ant,
Showed that the soon-to-be listed company had a profit of 9.2 billion yuan ($ 1.3 billion).
All three. From March to March, and about 15.5 billion yuan ($ 2.2 billion) in the December 2019 quarter.
Ant uses a mobile payment network that is hugely popular by more than 900 million people in China to pay bills,
use public transportation, and wholesale shopping, both online and in physical stores.
The company also provides a variety of financial services to millions of companies in the country.
It provides technology to financial institutions and other organizations and
sells financial products to many individuals, including mutual funds and insurance policies.
The Hangzhou-based company, which valued at $ 150 billion in a round of privatization in June 2018,
said last month that it plans to simultaneously offer a public offering on the Hong Kong and Shanghai exchanges.
The joint offering may be one of the largest in history and
will be nearly six years after the record-breaking $ 25 billion IPO of Alibaba.
Alibaba, which added its second entry in Hong Kong last year,
announces financial results using GAAP in the United States,
so the ant’s earnings numbers may differ from the existing eggs whose future listings will be disclosed in the prospectus.
The Wall Street Journal reported earlier that the ants are aiming for an IPO for a market cap
of more than $ 200 billion. This will make it more valuable than Goldman Sachs Group Inc.
And keep it close to PayPal Inc., Which recently exceeded $ 220 billion in market
capitalization after a massive increase in stock prices this year.
The first quarter is usually a seasonally weak period for ants as business activity slows down
during the country’s Lunar New Year holidays.
Those months are included in several cities in China to stop the spread of Coronavirus
in the country from three months until March 2020. During this period,
many businesses going shut down, and people largely confined to their homes, and spending was limited as a result.
However, Ant’s first-quarter earnings were 500% higher than the same period last year, according to Alibaba filings. The company did not cite any reason for the year-on-year increase.