April 2 (Reuters) - Alibaba Group (9988.HK) has bought back shares worth $4.8 billion in the quarter ended March, the Chinese e-commerce giant said on Tuesday, in its biggest-ever repurchase after beefing up its stock buyback plan in February.
The company had raised its share buyback plan by another $25 billion in a bid to appease investors concerned over its growth prospects as it faces new market rivals such as PDD (PDD.O) .
Alibaba, which is listed in both Hong Kong and the U.S., had bought back $2.9 billion worth of stock in the previous quarter.
Its Hong Kong shares have lost more than 6% of their value this year, amid growing worries over the e-commerce pioneer’s fall in earnings, per-user spending and deteriorating Chinese consumption.
These factors have contributed to the once-market dominant internet firm losing its market share to rivals such as PDD and TikTok owner ByteDance.
The internet company in February reported net income to ordinary shareholders for the third quarter of 14.4 billion yuan($1.99 billion), a 77% slump, mainly due to impairments related to hypermarket operator Sun Art and online video streaming service Youku.
Alibaba is currently in the middle of a split into six different units after the company named a new chief and abandoned a plan to list its cloud division and logistics arm, while refocusing on the core business.

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Alibaba Group has repurchased shares worth $4.8 billion, the largest ever quarterly share repurchase for the Chinese e-commerce giant. The company increased its buyback plan by $25 billion to address concerns over its growth prospects. Alibaba's shares have declined this year due to lower earnings, per-user spending, and increased competition. The company reported a 77% slump in net income for the third quarter. Alibaba is currently undergoing a restructuring and refocusing on its core business.

Alibaba makes biggest ever quarterly share repurchase worth $4.8 bln