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Alibaba’s supermarket Freshippo records 9 straight months of profit, CEO says
Freshippo, Alibaba Group Holding’s grocery chain known as Hema in its home market, was profitable for nine straight months in 2024, the unit’s chief executive Yan Xiaolei said in an internal letter on Tuesday.
The supermarket opened 72 new stores across China in the past year, averaging one every five days, the most in five years, according to Yan, who assumed the CEO role in March.
The additions brought the total number of Freshippo outlets to 400, spanning 50 cities, Yan said in the letter, which was seen by the Post and confirmed by employees. A third of the new stores were located in non-first-tier cities, according to a report from Chinese media Jiemian.
Founded in 2015, Freshippo previously reported quarterly profits in the fourth quarter of 2022 and the first quarter of 2023.
Alibaba, owner of the South China Morning Post, postponed an initial public offering of Freshippo in 2023. Alibaba chairman Joe Tsai said in early 2024 that the company was not in a hurry to float shares of the grocery chain known for selling fresh food.
Despite the stalled listing, Freshhippo remains an important part of Alibaba’s sprawling empire, as the e-commerce giant moves to divest its noncore businesses.
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