Alibaba.com Q3 profit down 20 pct, beats expectations

SHANGHAI, Nov 10 (Reuters) - Alibaba.com (1688.HK), China's largest e-commerce firm and Yahoo's (YHOO.O) business partner for the country, reported a 20 percent fall in quarterly profit, beating analysts' estimates, as China's economic stimulus spending lifted online trading.

Alibaba.com's shares have more than tripled this year on hopes that China's economy would help pull the region out of recession on the back of a 4 trillion yuan ($585 billion) stimulus spending plan by Beijing, which has encouraged more spending through easy credit and other incentives.

But the shares are still well below their highs hit just two years ago, shortly after the company's IPO. Alibaba.com, which last month agreed to buy a majority stake in a Chinese web hosting firm, HiChina, for $63.8 million, posted a net profit of 236 million yuan ($35 million) in July-September versus a restated 296.6 million yuan a year ago.

That beat the average analyst expectation of 222 million yuan profit, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Web commerce in China has surged in recent years, as buyers look to the Internet for better deals from more reliable suppliers in China's highly fragmented retail sector. ($1=6.828 Yuan) (Reporting by Melanie Lee; Editing by Doug Young and Ken Wills)