E-commerce giant Alibaba.com reports 34% profit

China’s largest e-commerce company Alibaba.com (1688.HK) reported its best profit in a year, stating on Thursday that its first-quarter net profit rose 34% to US$48.3 million from US$36.1 million a year earlier, Reuters reported. The results were well above the US$33.3 million analyst forecast. Total revenue grew 49.3% to US$178.6 million, while deferred revenue and customer advances for the quarter rose 43.6%. The increase of paying members, up 36.8% for the first quarter, and expectations that more users will use its value-added services this year have helped boost the company. Alibaba.com, the listed unit of Alibaba Group, recently launched a new website platform AliExpress and joined up with former rival Ebay’s (EBAY.NASDAQ) unit PayPal to provide e-payment services. The Chinese firm said it is also looking for investment opportunities in the US and India.