Naspers expects headline earnings per share for the six months ended 30 September 2015 to have leapt by between 25% and 30% compared the same interim period a year ago, the media and technology group said on Friday.

It expects core headline earnings per share — a figure it said is a more appropriate indicator of the sustainable performance of the group as it adjust for non-recurring and non-operational items — to have jumped by between 37% and 42%.

The earnings update comes a week before Naspers is expected to publish its interim results for the first half of the 2016 financial year. Those numbers will be made available on 27 November, the group said.

The strong performance was likely underpinned by robust growth at Naspers associate, China’s Tencent, in which it holds a 34% stake. Naspers owns Internet assets in emerging markets around the world and is a big player in pay television in Africa through its MultiChoice subsidiary.

Naspers’s share closed on Monday at R2 149,18/share, just shy of its all-time high of R2 194,90/share. The counter has added 44,8% in the past 12 months and 476,2% over the past five years. It has a market capitalisation of R911,4bn. — (c) 2015 NewsCentral Media