Core earnings up 15%; Internet revenue jumps 70 percent
South African e-commerce and media firm Naspers posted an expected 15% rise in first-half earnings on Tuesday boosted by its Internet businesses.
The Cape Town-based company with operations in emerging economies including Russia, China and Brazil said core headline earnings came in at 1,062 cents per share in the six months to end-September, from 921 cents a year earlier.
It had flagged this month that underlying profit would rise by between 10 to 20%. Core headline profit, which Naspers says is its main earnings measure, excludes one-time items.
One-time items included a 1,5 billion rand ($170 million) profit from the sale of some Facebook shares by Russian affiliate Mail.ru. Naspers owns 29% in Mail.ru.
Total revenue climbed 22% to 23 billion rand ($2,60 billion) after Internet revenue rose 70% to 14,1 billion rand.
Naspers said it spent $530 million investing in new e-commerce businesses including Netretail, an on-line retailer with operations in Eastern Europe.
Naspers started off as a newspaper publisher in apartheid South Africa and has morphed into a global multimedia business acquiring stakes in emerging-market Internet companies such as China’s Tencent and Brazil’s Buscape.
Naspers’ shares have risen over 50% this year. At 70 times price earnings, the company is considered expensive compared with the average of 13,5 times for Johannesburg’s Top-40 index of blue chips.
Internet boosts Naspers H1 profit
Core earnings up 15%; Internet revenue jumps 70 percent
South African e-commerce and media firm Naspers posted an expected 15% rise in first-half earnings on Tuesday boosted by its Internet businesses.
The Cape Town-based company with operations in emerging economies including Russia, China and Brazil said core headline earnings came in at 1,062 cents per share in the six months to end-September, from 921 cents a year earlier.
It had flagged this month that underlying profit would rise by between 10 to 20%. Core headline profit, which Naspers says is its main earnings measure, excludes one-time items.
One-time items included a 1,5 billion rand ($170 million) profit from the sale of some Facebook shares by Russian affiliate Mail.ru. Naspers owns 29% in Mail.ru.
Total revenue climbed 22% to 23 billion rand ($2,60 billion) after Internet revenue rose 70% to 14,1 billion rand.
Naspers said it spent $530 million investing in new e-commerce businesses including Netretail, an on-line retailer with operations in Eastern Europe.
Naspers started off as a newspaper publisher in apartheid South Africa and has morphed into a global multimedia business acquiring stakes in emerging-market Internet companies such as China’s Tencent and Brazil’s Buscape.
Naspers’ shares have risen over 50% this year. At 70 times price earnings, the company is considered expensive compared with the average of 13,5 times for Johannesburg’s Top-40 index of blue chips.
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