AliExpress Russia looks at possible IPO, reports $3 billion in transaction volumes
The company said it now has 29.1 million monthly active users on its online marketplace
Online retailer AliExpress Russia on Wednesday said an initial public offering was a possible step for the company, which reported gross merchandise volume (GMV) of $3 billion for the 2020-21 financial year.
A joint venture launched in 2019 with China's Alibaba and Russian partners, AliExpress Russia operates domestic and cross-border sales.
The company said it now has 29.1 million monthly active users on its online marketplace.
Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel
AliExpress Russia did not give a comparison for total GMV, which stood at 229.3 billion roubles ($2.96 billion) for the year to March 31. GMV for its domestic business was up 151% year-on-year at 54.9 billion roubles, the company said.
The Covid-19 pandemic gave a boost to Russia's e-commerce sector as health restrictions kept consumers at home, but AliExpress Russia, which depends on cross-border transactions for more than three quarters of its business, was slower to see the benefit as supply chains adjusted to new travel restrictions.
The company said an IPO was a possible step, but that such a decision was one for its shareholders.
"There are no specific plans for the dates - it may be next year or later," AliExpress Russia said.
CEO Dmitry Sergeev said the company's cross-border business grew in line with Russia's total e-commerce market, which analysts from market research firm Euromonitor put at almost 40% in 2020, and that its domestic business was growing ahead of the market.
Russian e-commerce leader Wildberries has reported full-year GMV in 2020 of 437.2 billion roubles, up 96% year-on-year. Online retailer Ozon, which staged a successful initial public offering (IPO) late last year, reported 144% GMV growth in 2020 at 197.4 billion roubles.
AliExpress Russia said 2020 GMV, not including services, was 209.6 billion roubles, without providing a growth comparison.
The company said it was sticking to a target of annual turnover of $10 billion by 2023, a figure first disclosed in an interview Sergeev gave to Reuters last July.
