Alibaba Challnges Investors to Read Between the Lines As Big Slowdown Looms 阿里巴巴：财报说了些什麽？

Alibaba.com (HKEx: 1688) has just published its fourth-quarter and 2010 results, and this is a read-betwee-the-lnes announcement if ever there was one. (English article; Chinese article) The company, still reeling from a scandal that forced out its CEO and COO late last year, saw fourth-quarter revenue growth that slowed to 37 percent from 43 percent for the whole year, and I’m willing to bet that number will show an even sharper slowdown in this year’s first quarter when business from more than a thousand fraudulent suppliers is cut out. The flagship of Jack Ma’s Alibaba Group has tried to ease investor concerns by saying its revenues are getting more diversified. But if I were a shareholder in this company (which I’m not), I’d brace myself for more turbulent times ahead, especially when the company reports its first-quarter results in April or May.

Bottom line: Alibaba’s growth was already slowing even before its year-end scandal, and we can expect an even more dramatic slowdown when it posts Q1 results

阿里巴巴<1688.HK>也发布了第四季度财报和2010年年报。这些报告有必要仔细咂摸。

阿里巴巴仍在疲於应付导致CEO和COO下台的欺诈丑闻。2010年全年营收增速是43%，第四季度增速则降至37%，我敢打赌，今年第一季度的增速肯定进一步下降。马云试图安抚投资者情绪，表示阿里巴巴的盈利来源正在多元化，但假如我是这家公司的股东（实际上我不是），我会对四五月间公布的第一季度财报做好心理准备。

一句话：在丑闻爆发之前，阿里巴巴的增速就已经放缓了。2011第一季度增速继续明显下降，没什麽悬念。（完）