Technology investor Naspers said on Monday its Prosus e-commerce subsidiary plans more listings after last month’s Indian initial public offering (IPO) of Swiggy, as it posted a 74% jump in half-year core earnings.
Naspers said the aim is for Amsterdam-listed Prosus, which holds international investments including a 24.3% stake in Chinese software and gaming giant Tencent, to deliver profit of US$400-million and revenue of $6.2-billion in the financial year to 31 March 2025.
“We had strong growth and strong profitability across the portfolio and we’re quite confident that we’re going to keep this growth rate,” Fabricio Bloisi, CEO of Naspers and Prosus, said in an earnings call.
The $400-million forecast in adjusted earnings before interest and tax (Ebit) is a large improvement on the $38-million in the previous financial year at Prosus.
Prosus hopes to list PayU next year and other Indian investments, including e-commerce start-up Meesho and online jewellery retailer Bluestone, in the next 18 months, it said.
There are many more potential listings in India even after the 18-month target, added Ervin Tu, Naspers and Prosus group chief investment officer. The company identified one future potential listing as Captain Fresh, a seafood company from India.
The e-commerce portfolio includes food delivery firms iFood of Brazil and Delivery Hero, online marketplaces such as OLX, educational software firms such as SkillSoft and Stack Overflow, and payments companies such as India-focused PayU.
E-commerce turns profitable
Naspers said its core headline earnings for continuing operations rose to $1.5-billion in the six months ended 30 September, up from $866-million, while Prosus reported core headline earnings of $3.5-billion, up from $2-billion.
Group revenue rose by 23% to $3.4-billion, while adjusted Ebit swung to a profit of $36-million from a loss of $121-million as its e-commerce business turned profitable.
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Consolidated e-commerce revenue at Prosus grew by 26% to $3-billion, driven by continued strong revenue growth in payments and fintech, e-retail and food delivery, Naspers said.
E-commerce adjusted Ebit swung to a profit of $181-million, from a loss of $36-million. — (c) 2024 Reuters
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