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JOHANNESBURG – South African media and e-commerce giant Naspers reported a 39 percent jump in half-year profit on Friday, thanks to a strong performance in its investment in China’s Tencent.
Naspers, which owns about a third of Tencent, said core headline earnings came in at $1.7 billion, or 385 cents per share, in the six months ended September compared with $1.2 billion, or 277 cents per share, a year earlier.
Core headline EPS is Naspers’ main profit measure that strips out non-operational and one-off items.
Tencent’s contribution to core headline EPS of $1.8 billion helped offset weakness at the company’s other businesses that include e-commerce platforms MakeMyTrip and Delivery Hero.
Founded more than 100 years ago in Stellenbosch, South Africa, Naspers has transformed itself from a newspaper publisher into a $87 billion empire but it owes all of that valuation to its one-third stake in Tencent.
The stake has become not just a moneyspinner for the group but also a headache as it dwarfs Naspers’ own market capitalisation by 40 percent.
Share in Naspers rose 1.1 percent to 2,280 rand as of 1348 GMT. – Reuters Africa
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