[ET Net News Agency, 26 October 2021] Alibaba Health Information Technology Limited
(00241) said the group expects to record a net loss of not more than RMB320 million for
the six months ended 30 September 2021 (6M FY2021) as compared with the net profit of
approximately RMB279 million for the corresponding period in 2020.
The group's net loss for 6M FY2021 was mainly attributable to (i) the increase in the
deployment of the group's resources to invest in a series of innovative business areas
such as the "Dr. Deer" APP and health insurance; (ii) the group's continuous investment in
drug supply chain capabilities, including drug storage and logistics, as well as
operational service improvements in the group's pharmaceutical direct sales business,
customer experiences in prescription refills and the research and development of the
skills for prescription drug regulatory compliance and safety; (iii) the group's
increasing investment in building the brand awareness of Tmall's Pharmaceutical Platform
and Alibaba Health Pharmacy; (iv) decrease in operating margin of the group's direct sales
business as the group increased its market share of online B2C drug sales, accelerated
business deployment of prescription drug sales business and increased the deployment of
corresponding market resources; partially offset by the increase in unrealised gain on
changes in fair values of investment. (RC)