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Naspers Earnings Rise as Classifieds Unit Turns First Profit
Naspers Earnings Rise as Classifieds Business Turns First Profit
30 Nov 2018, 08:55 PM IST
(Bloomberg) -- Naspers Ltd. first-half earnings climbed 39 percent as Africa’s largest company by market value made further progress in turning a profit at its myriad of internet businesses.
(Bloomberg) -- Naspers Ltd. first-half earnings climbed 39 percent as Africa’s largest company by market value made further progress in turning a profit at its myriad of internet businesses.
- Core headline earnings were $1.7 billion. The classifieds business is now profitable, even when including Letgo -- which dragged that division down in the 2018 fiscal year. The online-retail unit narrowed losses.
Key Insights
- Turning classifieds profitable could help Naspers stop being defined by its blockbuster early investment in Chinese internet giant Tencent Holdings Ltd. The Cape Town-based company’s earnings are also based on the performance of several other online firms -- from Brazil to Russia and India.
- Naspers is working on closing an almost $28 billion valuation gap between its market value and that of the 31 percent stake it owns in Tencent. To help achieve that, it’s spinning off its pay-TV company in 2019 and may consider similar moves for other businesses.
- Despite the valuation discrepancy, there is value in Naspers’s other internet ventures, according to analysts at Barclays Plc. The classifieds companies are worth $10 billion, the food delivery businesses $3.5 billion and the online-payments firms $3 billion, they said in a note earlier this month.
Market Reaction
- Naspers shares have slumped 18 percent this year, tracking a 23 percent fall at Tencent. The stock traded 0.5 percent higher at 2,834.60 rand as of 3:27 p.m. in Johannesburg.
Get More
- Read more about the earnings here.
- Core headline earnings per share were $3.85, below an average estimate of $3.98. That was based on three analysts polled by Bloomberg.
- “we will maintain our focus on driving profitability in the e-commerce units,” the company said. “Our strong balance sheet provides a basis for driving growth across the portfolio and unlocking new opportunities that fit our criteria.”
--With assistance from Janice Kew.
To contact the reporter on this story: Loni Prinsloo in Johannesburg at lprinsloo3@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Rebecca Penty at rpenty@bloomberg.net, John Bowker, Thomas Pfeiffer
©2018 Bloomberg L.P.
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