HONG KONG: Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba Group said Thursday its net profit in the first quarter this year rose 33.8 percent year-on-year to 330 million yuan ($48.3 million), which also represented a quarter-on-quarter increase of 17.4 percent.

In a statement filed to the Hong Kong stock exchange, the Hangzhou-based company said total revenue was 1.22 billion yuan ($178.7 million) in the first quarter of 2010 thanks to the increase in the number of paying members and the consolidation of HiChina's results. The revenue represented a 49.3-percent increase from a year earlier and a 10.4-percent increase from the fourth quarter of 2009.

The company said it had 658,701 paying members as of March 31, representing a 36.8 percent increase from a year earlier.

Revenue from the international marketplace increased to 718.9 million yuan ($105.3 million) in the first quarter, representing a 42.2-percent increase year-on-year and a 4.6-percent increase quarter on quarter, it said.

The growth was primarily due to the increase in the number of China Gold Supplier members and revenue from the sale of value-added services, said Alibaba, adding its China Gold Supplier members reached 100,694 as of March 31, representing an increase of 44,884 year on year and 4,584 quarter on quarter.

Alibaba also said its profit margin before interest, tax and amortization was 30.7 percent in the first quarter, a slight decrease from 31.9 percent in the same period last year and an increase from 23.5 percent in the fourth quarter of 2009.