Better-than-expected quarterly results from China’s Tencent gave the JSE a R70bn boost on Wednesday. Tencent, which owns the WeChat messaging platform, said profit in the first quarter of 2018 rose 61% to RMB23.3bn (R45.5bn) as revenue increased 48% to RMB73.5bn and margin grew. The rise in profit was partly thanks to one-off gains. Naspers, which owns 31.2% of Hong Kong-listed Tencent, closed 5.2% higher at R3,260 on Wednesday – raising its market capitalisation by R70bn. That gain in value dwarfs the R27bn Naspers raised earlier in May by selling its stake in Indian e-commerce business Flipkart to Walmart. Naspers also recently raised HK$77bn (R122bn) by trimming its stake in Tencent. While consensus expectations were less optimistic, independent investment analyst Mark Ingham said Tencent’s quarterly results “came in as I expected”. “You should expect earnings growth to lag revenue, with margins settling in the 30% area in the next couple of years,” Ingham told Business Day from ...
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Subscribe now to unlock this article.
Support BusinessLIVE’s award-winning journalism for R129 per month (digital access only).
There’s never been a more important time to support independent journalism in SA. Our subscription packages now offer an ad-free experience for readers.
Cancel anytime.
Questions? Email helpdesk@businesslive.co.za or call 0860 52 52 00. Got a subscription voucher? Redeem it now.