Jack Ma backed Ant's 193% gains in post-crackdown recovery - BNN Bloomberg

(Bloomberg) — Ant Group Co.’s earnings grew nearly 193% in the June quarter, reversing a year-long decline as the fintech company regained its footing following a government crackdown.

Hangzhou-based Ant contributed nearly 2.48 billion yuan ($343 million) in profits to Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. Based on Alibaba’s one-third stake in Ant, this is estimated to translate to a profit of 7.5 billion yuan for the three months ending in June, according to Bloomberg calculations based on the listed company’s disclosures.

The results compared with a 10% decline in profits in the previous three months. The results lag a quarter behind those of Alibaba. Ant declined to comment in an emailed statement.

Ant in March overhauled its operations and set up independent boards for international, database and digital technology units to pave the way for future spin-offs. The company is expanding its overseas operations to offset slowing growth at home.

The moves came after billionaire Jack Ma gave up control of Ant last year. China completed its crackdown on the once booming internet sector by imposing more than $1 billion in fines on Ant and Tencent Holdings Ltd. in July last year.

To expand abroad, Ant has raised $6.5 billion in loans to refinance an offshore credit line of the same size, people familiar with the matter said in September.

Ant’s global business has built its treasury management platform, known as Whale, backed by blockchain technology. Separately, it partnered with Singapore’s DBS Group Holdings Ltd. to launch a treasury token pilot project to improve the efficiency of fund movements between bank accounts.

The company has also made some progress in artificial intelligence. It has rolled out a suite of services including a “life assistant” app called Zhixiaobao, which allows people to order meals, hail taxis and access other features within mobile payment app Alipay.

Domestically, Ant is considering selling its stake in personal credit reporting company Baihang Credit Co. as it awaits licensing approval for a similar entity known as Qiantang, Bloomberg reported in June.

Ant last year proposed buying back as much as 7.6% of its shares, prompting investors such as Fidelity Investments and T. Rowe Price Group Inc. got the chance to sell some shares. Under the buyback plan, the company’s valuation was reduced to about $79 billion – well above the peak of $280 billion before regulators scrapped an initial public offering four years ago. The fintech company is awaiting a financial holding company license, which would help revive its IPO.

Initially targeting Chinese tourists traveling outside the country, the company has expanded its services into a cross-border payment backbone known as Alipay+, which can be used by various wallets. According to the website, the network connects 90 million traders in 66 markets.

Affiliate Alibaba’s revenue reached 236.5 billion yuan in the three months ended September.