Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd posted a smaller-than-expected rise in quarterly revenue on Thursday as the ongoing Covid-19 situation and a worsening economic outlook stifled consumer spending.

Alibaba has also had to contend this year with stiff competition from the likes of Pinduoduo and ByteDance's Douyin, which have expanded their e-commerce offerings and taken more market share.The company has also yet to fully recover from regulatory tightening of the tech sector.

Revenue grew 3 percent to 207.18 billion yuan in the three months to the end of September, while the company reported a net loss attributable to ordinary shareholders of 20.6 billion yuan.

The loss was primarily due to a "decrease in market prices of our equity investments in publicly traded companies", among other factors, the company said in a statement.

Alibaba's financial affiliate, Ant Group, is still undergoing a revamp and has yet to revive plans for its public market debut after its US$37 billion attempt at a dual listing was derailed at the last minute in late 2020.

The company said in its earnings release it would raise its share repurchase program by an additional US$15 billion and extend it to the end of the 2025 fiscal year.

Fellow tech titan Tencent reported on Wednesday its second quarterly drop in revenue in a row. (AFP, Reuters)