Naspers grows interim earnings 39%
Africa’s largest public company said interim revenue was up 23%, thanks mostly to Tencent and MultiChoice
Naspers, Africa’s largest public company, said on Friday its core headline earnings in the six months to end-September grew 39% to $1.7bn (R23bn), thanks to its interest in China’s Tencent and a healthier e-commerce business. “Naspers executed well in the first half of the 2019 financial year, generating group revenue, measured on an economic-interest basis, of $11bn,” the group said. That represents revenue growth of 23%. The e-commerce business, into which Naspers has been investing heavily using funds from MultiChoice and Tencent, reduced trading losses “materially”. The classifieds unit turned profitable while trading-loss margins in online retail and payments narrowed considerably as revenues grew, the company said. At the end of September, Naspers was sitting on a cash pile of $8.7bn thanks to the sale of its 12% stake in Indian e-commerce company Flipkart and the disposal of some of its Tencent shares earlier in the year. At 3.30pm, Naspers shares on the JSE were up 1.02% to ...
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.