Alibaba Group, China’s largest Chinese eCommerce business, says sales soared 45 per cent in the fourth quarter.

But net income for the three months to March 31 fell 49 per cent to 2.87 million Chinese yuan (US$458 million). Quarterly Alibaba revenue totalled 17.43 billion yuan, or US$2.8 billion

The group this week named Daniel Zhang, its current COO, as its new CEO effective this weekend. Incumbent Jonathan Lu will become vice chairman.

Alibaba went public last year in one of the highest profile IPOs in recent times as investors sought to get a share in the proceeds of China’s internet boom. But its shares have shed 23 per cent this calendar year. That is after a mild seven per cent recovery after yesterday’s quarterly announcement.

The company said its improved sales were in part due to increasing volume of mobile shopping by customers of its websites, and more active buying generally.

Alibaba’s platforms, which include Taobao and Tmall.com, together account for 80 per cent of China’s eCommerce market.

Gross merchandise volume – the total volume of goods sold on its sites – rose 40 per cent quarter-on-quarter. The number of active buyers rose 37 per cent to 350 million.