Hong Kong — Alibaba forecast sales growth that topped every analysts’ estimate, defying expectations that growth must slow by dint of a decelerating economy and its own sheer scale. China’s largest e-commerce company forecast 45% to 49% revenue growth in the year ending March, sustaining a near-unbroken run of 40%-plus annual rises and underscoring how investments into businesses beyond its bread-and-butter of online shopping are paying off. The company’s German shares rose as much as 5.2%. Alibaba and Tencent — which dominate online shopping and social media, respectively — have ventured deeper into new areas from cloud computing services to streaming music and video as the country’s economy slows. The online shopping giant founded by billionaire Jack Ma is capturing more digital advertising spending by incorporating social elements such as video in its shopping sites. To reflect an increasingly diverse customer base, Alibaba will start reporting "active consumers" as opposed to ju...
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