Alibaba, whose platforms sell two-thirds of everything bought online in China, has long been an indicator of the health of the country’s economy. On Thursday, the diagnosis was bleak.

The spread of the Covid-19 coronavirus has brought China to a standstill and will hurt Alibaba’s businesses “across the board”, warned Daniel Zhang, the chief executive, even as he unveiled a 56 per cent year-on-year rise in net income to Rmb52bn ($7.5bn) for the final quarter of last year.

The company now expects its Tmall and Taobao retail business, food delivery and other consumer units, together responsible for about 57 per cent of revenues in the fourth quarter, to shrink in the first three months of 2020. The unit has grown at more than 30 per cent annually for years.