(Yicai) Dec. 17 -- Alibaba Group Holding will sell its entire stake in Intime Retail Group at a CNY9.3 billion (USD1.3 billion) loss, as the Chinese e-commerce giant refocuses on its core business.

Alibaba will sell Intime for CNY7.4 billion (USD1 billion), CNY9.3 billion less than what it paid for the department store chain 10 years ago, to Intime’s management team and clothing giant Youngor Fashion, the Hangzhou-based company said today. It gave no reason for the sale.

Youngor told Yicai that the deal was aimed at strengthening and supplementing the retail value chain and improving the fashion ecosystem. The Ningbo-based fashion retailer will give Intime’s managers ample space to support its further high-quality development, the buyer said.

Alibaba Chairman Joseph Tsai addressed speculation about its exit from physical retailing in February. “Alibaba’s balance sheet still contains some traditional physical retail businesses, which are not our core focus,” he said. “It is reasonable for Alibaba to exit these sectors.”

The market situation at that time meant that a withdrawal could take time, Tsai added. His comments triggered further speculation that Alibaba could divest its Intime, RT-Mart and Freshippo businesses.

Alibaba’s Hong Kong-listed shares [HKG: 9988] closed 1.1 percent lower at HKD83.40 (USD10.73) each today, while Youngor’s stock [SHA: 600177] finished up 3.7 percent at CNY9.38 (USD1.29) in Shanghai.

Editor: Kim Taylor