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☆ China's Alibaba invites businesses to trial AI chatbot -media
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Alibaba has opened up registration for businesses to conduct testing for its AI application, STAR Market reported without specifying details. Alibaba Cloud did not respond immediately to an emailed request for comment. A formal launch is expected at an Alibaba Cloud event on Tuesday. Others to have joined the AI chatbot race include Baidu Inc (9998.HK), with its Ernie Bot application open only to trial users at the moment. Last week Alibaba announced that it will restructure into six standalone divisions, each with its own board and CEO.

HONG KONG, April 6 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Alibaba's (9988.HK) worth may be hiding in plain sight. The $260 billion Chinese group wants to split off faster-growing, money-losing bets like its cloud and logistics units. It accounted for 9% of Alibaba's top line in the nine months to December, nearly double five years ago. Zhang would do well to focus investor attention back onto Alibaba's commerce operations in China. That’s some 30% more than the company’s entire market value as of Wednesday.

☆ China's Alibaba to break up empire into six units as Jack Ma returns home
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( Josh Horwitz | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Alibaba said the biggest restructuring in its 24-year history would see it split into six units - Cloud Intelligence Group, Taobao Tmall Commerce Group, Local Services Group, Cainiao Smart Logistics Group, Global Digital Commerce Group and Digital Media and Entertainment Group. Zhang will continue as chairman and CEO of Alibaba Group, which will follow a holding company management model, and also serve as CEO of Cloud Intelligence Group. The exception would be Taobao Tmall Commerce Group that handles China commerce businesses and will remain a wholly owned unit of Alibaba Group. Investors said the split signals the clearing of regulatory worries and allays concerns that Alibaba had lost the potential to grow. [1/2] The logo of Alibaba Group is seen at its office in Beijing, China January 5, 2021.

☆ Alibaba's split reveals China's shifting approach to big tech, says Third Bridge's Scott Kessler
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-28 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailAlibaba's split reveals China's shifting approach to big tech, says Third Bridge's Scott KesslerThird Bridge's Scott Kessler joins 'Power Lunch' to discuss a break up of China's Alibaba Group into six units, the opportunities for value creation to generate from the Alibaba division, and the Chinese government's perspective on big tech in China.

March 29 (Reuters) - A look at the day ahead in Asian markets from Jamie McGeever. An interest rate decision in Thailand and Australian inflation top a light Asian calendar on Wednesday, with broader risk appetite likely to be tempered by a further rebound in U.S. bond yields. But this relief is running up what looks like a renewed spike higher in bond yields and borrowing costs, which is dampening risk appetite. One curiosity is the dollar, weakening again on Tuesday despite the rise in U.S. bond yields. Indeed it mostly struggled to catch a safe-haven bid when the banking stresses were most acute and is now struggling even when U.S. yields are rising.

☆ SoftBank, Ant discuss to sell Paytm stake via block deal - ET
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/3] The interface of Indian payments app Paytm is seen in front of its logo displayed in this illustration picture taken July 7, 2021. REUTERS/Florence Lo/IllustrationFeb 27 (Reuters) - China's Ant Group and Japan's SoftBank Group Corp (9984.T) have discussed selling stake in One 97 Communications, which operatesIndian digital payments firm Paytm (PAYT.NS), through a block deal, the Economic Times newspaper reported on Monday. SoftBank, Ant Group, Paytm and Bharti Airtel did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for comments. Ant and SoftBank are likely to offload shares gradually in the market as part of their plan to exit Paytm, the report said. China's Alibaba Group (9988.HK) earlier this month sold its remaining stake in Paytm for about 13.78 billion rupees.

☆ Alibaba sells out of India's Paytm - ANI
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] A QR code of Paytm is seen at a mobile repairing shop in Kolkata, India, November 9, 2021. REUTERS/Rupak De ChowdhuriBENGALURU, Feb 10 (Reuters) - China's Alibaba Group (9988.HK) has sold its remaining stake in Indian digital payments firm Paytm (PAYT.NS) through a block deal, India's ANI reportedon Friday, citing sources with knowledge of the matter. Paytm and Alibaba did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment. In January, Alibaba sold a 3.1% stake in the company through a block deal worth $125 million, a source with direct knowledge of the matter had told Reuters. Before that, the Chinese firm had a 6.26% stake in Paytm.

☆ SoftBank tumbles to loss as Vision Fund in red for fourth straight quarter
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( Kiyoshi Takenaka | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The Vision Fund, which upended the world of technology with its big bets on startups, reported an investment loss of 730.36 billion yen ($5.52 billion) in the fiscal third quarter. At SoftBank itself, the net loss totalled 783.42 billion yen, compared with a 29.05 billion yen profit a year earlier. SoftBank said the Vision Fund unit had significantly curtailed new investments and was continuing to sell some older ones as part of "prudent defensive financial management" amid the challenging market environment. GOOD ARMThe bulk of the loss at the Vision Fund unit came from a steep decline in the valuation of investments in unlisted companies. Son invested heavily in artificial intelligence and other high-tech startups through the Vision Fund in recent years, delivering both record profits and heady optimism about future valuations.

☆ SoftBank posts loss as Vision Fund in the red for fourth straight quarter
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( Kiyoshi Takenaka | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

TOKYO, Feb 7 (Reuters) - SoftBank Group Corp (9984.T) on Tuesday booked a net loss for October-December, as its giant Vision Fund investment unit remained in the red for a fourth straight quarter while a global tech sell-off battered valuations of its portfolio companies. The Vision Fund, which upended the world of technology with its big bets on startups, reported an investment loss of 730.36 billion yen ($5.52 billion) in the latest quarter. At SoftBank itself, the net loss totalled 783.42 billion yen, compared with a 29.05 billion yen profit a year earlier. SoftBank said the Vision Fund unit had significantly curtailed new investments and was continuing to sell some older ones as part of "prudent defensive financial management" amid the challenging market environment. The bulk of the loss at the Vision Fund unit came from a steep decline in the valuation of investments in unlisted companies.

☆ Investor Ryan Cohen builds Alibaba stake, pushes for more share buybacks
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-16 | by ( Svea Herbst-Bayliss | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Jan 16 (Reuters) - Billionaire investor Ryan Cohen has built a stake in China's Alibaba Group (9988.HK) worth hundreds of millions of dollars and is pushing the e-commerce giant to increase and speed up share buybacks, people familiar with the matter said on Monday. In his communications, Cohen told Alibaba he thought the company could reach double-digit sales growth and nearly 20% free cashflow growth over the coming five years, according to the sources. Cohen felt the company's shares were undervalued at the time, according to the people, who declined to be identified because the investment is private. The people said that Cohen is eager to have a collaborative, long-term relationship with Alibaba and that he has praised management's capabilities. Over roughly the same period, Alibaba has steadily escalated its share buyback program.

☆ Activist investor Ryan Cohen builds stake in Alibaba -WSJ
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

Jan 16 (Reuters) - Activist investor Ryan Cohen has built a stake in China's Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (9988.HK) worth hundreds of millions of dollars, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday, citing people familiar with the matter. Cohen is privately pushing the Chinese e-commerce giant to accelerate and further boost its share repurchase program, the newspaper reported. Reporting by Aishwarya Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Leslie AdlerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Alibaba sells Paytm stake worth $125 mln via block deal - source
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

BENGALURU, Jan 12 (Reuters) - China's Alibaba Group (9988.HK) sold a 3.1% stake in Indian digital payments firm Paytm (PAYT.NS) worth $125 million through a block deal on Thursday, a source with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters. Alibaba, which held a 6.26% stake in Paytm as at end-September, sold the stake at 536.95 rupees apiece, the source said. Morgan Stanley advised Alibaba on the deal, the source said. Alibaba and Morgan Stanley did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment. Reporting by Sriram Mani in Mumbai, Nishit Navin in BengaluruOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Here's how much money Google estimates Microsoft's cloud business is actually losing
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-21 | by ( Jordan Novet | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Google has for years been playing catch-up in the cloud infrastructure market, where it's seen in the industry as a distant third in the U.S., behind Amazon and Microsoft . The challenge for investors is that the three companies don't report cloud infrastructure metrics in a way that makes them easily comparable. The Azure and other cloud services metric also includes, among other things, enterprise mobility and security, or EMS, tools that can be sold separately. Google parent Alphabet, meanwhile, doesn't tell investors how much revenue or operating income the Google Cloud Platform, or GCP, generates. It only discloses those figures for what it calls Google Cloud, which includes subscriptions to Google Workspace collaboration software, as well as GCP, a direct Azure rival.

☆ SoftBank shares tumble after Vision Fund reports another big loss
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

TOKYO, Nov 14 (Reuters) - Shares in Japan's SoftBank Group Corp (9984.T) plunged on Monday after the company reported a heavy loss at its Vision Fund investment arm for a third consecutive quarter. SoftBank shares were down 11.2% in morning trade, on track for their biggest one-day loss in more than 2-1/2 years. As of Friday's close, SoftBank shares had gained more than 40% since October. The Vision Fund logged investment losses of 1.38 trillion yen ($9.9 billion) in the three months to Sept. 30 as the value of its portfolio continued to slide. ($1 = 138.9900 yen)Reporting by Kiyoshi Takenaka; Editing by David Dolan and Edwina GibbsOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Japan's SoftBank books hefty Vision Fund loss but returns to quarterly profit
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( Kiyoshi Takenaka | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

TOKYO, Nov 11 (Reuters) - Japan's SoftBank Group Corp (9984.T) on Friday unveiled a loss at its sprawling Vision Fund investment arm for the third straight quarter, even as the tech company posted a net profit from selling some of its stake in China's Alibaba (9988.HK). Vision Fund upended the world of venture capital with splashy bets on startups, but it has been hammered in recent quarters by a global tech rout, prompting SoftBank Chief Executive Masayoshi Son to sharply scale back fresh investments. Investment losses at flagship unit Vision Fund were 1.38 trillion yen ($9.75 billion) in the three months to September 30 as the value of its portfolio continued to slide. At SoftBank itself, net profit came to 3.03 trillion yen in the July-September second quarter. In the first quarter the group had posted a 3.16 trillion yen loss.

☆ Japan's SoftBank returns to quarterly profit but unveils more Vision Fund pain
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

SoftBank's Vision Fund, the brainchild of the company's founder Masayoshi Son, has faced a number of headwinds including a slump in technology stocks as a result of rising interest rates, a tough China market and geopolitics. Japan's SoftBank Group Corp reported its first quarterly profit in three quarters, buoyed by the sale of some of its stake in China's Alibaba even as its massive Vision Fund posted another heavy quarterly loss. Investment losses at flagship unit Vision Fund were 1.38 trillion yen ($9.75 billion) in the three months to September 30 as the value of its portfolio continued to slide. At SoftBank itself, net profit came to 3.03 trillion yen in the July-September second quarter. In the first quarter, the group had posted a 3.16 trillion yen loss.

☆ Indonesian digital lender Neo Commerce targets full-year profit in 2023
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Tjandra also pledged that its high deposit rate of up to 8% per year would not be a one-off. BNC's net interest margin (NIM), an indicator of profitability and as of September at 12.7%, was sufficient even with high deposit rates, he said. Sea Group's digital bank SeaBank Indonesia offers a deposit rate of 7%, while Bank Jago offered a 7% rate for its saving products during a promotional period in August. BNC is targeting 10-11 trillion rupiah loan disbursement this year and up to 40% growth in 2023, Tjandra said. But the lender is still expected to book a full-year loss of around 500-600 billion rupiah in December, Tjandra said.

☆ What Kroger, Walmart, Target learned from China's Alibaba about grocery's future
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-25 | by ( Rebecca Fannin | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Kroger has adopted an omnichannel strategy, integration of offline or in-store sales with online orders and logistics. They looked at the New Retail model born in China for complete integration of offline and online channels," he said. But the action was jumpstarted when Amazon bought Whole Foods Market in 2017 and began introducing several advanced technologies to streamline in-store shopping, a shift that also spread to large retailers Walmart and Target. Kroger digital sales gained by 8 percent in the second quarter of 2022, while in-store and online combined gained 5.8 percent from a year earlier. He pointed out that "half of Kroger's app stores are bringing in incremental business and half are cannibalizing in-store sales."

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