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Alibaba's 107% Surge Hasn't Rubbed Off on Its Movie Business

Alibaba Pictures Group Ltd. has fallen almost 10 percent in the past week in Hong Kong, the lowest since 2014. 

Alibaba's 107% Surge Hasn't Rubbed Off on Its Movie Business
A monitor displays Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. signage on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S. (Photographer: Michael Nagle/Bloomberg)

(Bloomberg) -- Jack Ma’s flagship firm may be one of the best-performing Chinese stocks this year, but the same can’t be said of his loss-making film and TV business.

Alibaba Pictures Group Ltd. has fallen almost 10 percent in the past week in Hong Kong, bringing the shares to their lowest point since March 2014. The company -- which runs an online cinema ticket venture as well as investing in Chinese and foreign movies -- is down 7.9 percent this year. Its parent, meanwhile, has rallied 107 percent.

This week’s slump may been triggered by news of management shifts at Alibaba Group’s culture and entertainment unit, though that won’t have much real impact, according to Kevin Leung at Haitong International Securities Co. Alibaba Pictures has posted losses in five of the past six halves, and in October the stock formed a “Death Cross” -- an ominously named technical move that signals further equity declines could be imminent.

Alibaba's 107% Surge Hasn't Rubbed Off on Its Movie Business

And it seems not even Ma could stave off this week’s slump. The Alibaba Group founder reportedly made his film debut on Nov. 11, in a 20-minute short from Alibaba Pictures about martial arts.

--With assistance from Emma Dai

To contact Bloomberg News staff for this story: Emma O'Brien in Beijing at eobrien6@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Richard Frost at rfrost4@bloomberg.net, Will Davies

©2017 Bloomberg L.P.

With assistance from Emma O'Brien