Alibaba boosts six-month revenue to more than $1.8b

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, China's biggest e-commerce company, boosted its half-year revenue by at least 60 percent to more than $1.8 billion as its websites helped it become more profitable, a person familiar with the matter said.

The company's earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization as a percentage of its revenue increased to 40 percent in the six months ending on June 30, compared with 35 percent a year earlier, according to the person familiar with matter, who asked not to be identified. The company is partly owned by Yahoo Inc and Softbank Corp.