Alibaba reports strong growth before IPO

China's e-commerce conglomerate Alibaba Group Holding Ltd saw its net profit surge more than 100 percent in the fourth quarter of 2013 as it prepares for a landmark initial public offering in the United States in the coming months.

Alibaba's results were posted in the early morning of Wednesday by Yahoo, which holds about 24 percent of the e-commerce giant's shares.

Alibaba reported a net profit of $1.4 billion in the fourth quarter, up from $642 million in the same quarter a year earlier.

The Hangzhou-based company's fourth-quarter revenue grew 66 percent year-on-year to nearly $3.1 billion. The result was largely boosted by the Nov 11 online shopping festival. Alibaba's two e-commerce platforms — Tmall.com and Taobao.com — reported combined revenue of 35 billion yuan ($5.62 billion) from the 24-hour sale.

Alibaba's result was highly anticipated by Wall Street as the company readies for one of the largest IPOs since Facebook Inc. The listing is expected to boost the company's value to more than $100 billion.

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