Naspers CEO Sees Growth in Online Sales of Second-Hand Clothes

(Bloomberg) --

Naspers Ltd., Africa’s biggest company by market value, expects second-hand clothing sales online to pick up as companies around the world look to cut production of new goods to help address climate change.

“We are big investors in trading in second-hand clothes -- we think the world will need more recycling over time,” Chief Executive Officer Bob van Dijk told Bloomberg Television in Davos. “In classifieds, we are helping to reduce the production of new goods.”

Naspers, through its majority-owned Prosus NV division, is investing in companies around the world to try and replicate the success of an early involvement in Tencent Holdings Ltd., now China’s largest company. Another preferred market is food-delivery , where Prosus recently lost an $8 billion takeover battle for Just Eat Plc in the U.K.

“Food delivery we think is still at an early stage and can be 30 or 50 times larger,” said Van Dijk.

Naspers shares declined 2.7% to 2,451.07 rand as of 12:20 p.m in Johannesburg.

To contact the reporter on this story: John Bowker in Johannesburg at jbowker2@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Rebecca Penty at rpenty@bloomberg.net, Jennifer Ryan, Thomas Pfeiffer

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