Business and Economic News has reported its first quarterly loss since Alibaba made its sale

Despite the loss, China’s leading e-commerce platform forecast revenue in 2022 above market targets, betting that the pandemic aimed at online shopping will continue to be resilient.

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd of China’s main e-commerce platform on Thursday unveiled its first operating loss in the quarter since 2014, when the country’s regulatory market set a record for antitrust fines.

Shares listed in the U.S. fell nearly 3 percent in inappropriate trading, even as the company projected high revenues in 2022, betting that the changes in the coronavirus pandemic to online shopping will remain resilient.

The outlook, however, was overshadowed by a regulated crackdown in China, which led to the suspension of the Ant Group’s initial $ 37 billion public offering and a $ 2.8 billion fine in April for anti-competitive business practices.

The fine resulted in an operating loss of $ 7,666,000 yuan ($ 1.191 billion) in the fourth quarter ended March 31.

“The Criminal Decision prompted us to reflect on the relationship between the platform’s economy and society, as well as our social responsibilities and commitments,” CEO Daniel Zhang said in the earnings call.

Alibaba projected annual revenues of 930 billion billion yuan ($ 144.12 billion) by the end of March 2022, above the expected 928.25 billion yuan.

Major trade revenue rose 72 percent to 161.37 billion yuan ($ 25 billion) in the fourth quarter. Growth in the unit of cloud computing fell to 37% to 16.8 billion yuan ($ 2.60 billion) from 58 percent in the previous year, the weakest since 2016.

Alibaba said a senior customer with a “strong presence outside of China” is ending the business “for reasons unrelated to the product.”

Overall revenue was 187.4 billion yuan ($ 29.03 billion) in the fourth quarter, and Refinitiv’s forecast was 180.41 billion yuan ($ 27.95 billion).

Alibaba’s U.S.-listed shares have fallen more than 30 percent since reaching a record high in late October, when founder Jack Ma gave a speech criticizing financial regulators in Shanghai China.

Brock Silvers, investment director at Hong Kong-based Adamas Asset Management in Hong Kong, said the collapse in stock prices reflected investor anxiety.

“The company has experienced severe waves of regulatory risks that now threaten the entire technology sector.”