BIG GAINS FOR NASPERS REVENUES

SA INTERNET giant Naspers has a war chest of $8.7 billion (R120bn) for growth and acquisitions. The group, releasing its results for the half year to September, said on Friday that its revenues had increased 29 percent year-on-year to $11bn from $9bn the prior year. Core headline earnings grew 39 percent to $1.7bn from $1.2bn. Naspers said in a statement on Friday that it had reduced its e-commerce trading losses materially on the back of strong contributions from classifieds, which turned profitable including mobile app letgo, and the business-to-consumer (B2C) segment. Basil Sgourdos, the group chief financial officer, said: “We executed well in the first half of the financial year… The classifieds business is now profitable, including letgo. Trading-loss margins in e-tail and payments narrowed considerably as the businesses delivered solid revenue growth and continued to scale. Naspers continues its track record of locking in strong returns with the recent sale of Flipkart.” Trading profit grew 34 percent year-on- year to $2bn from $1.7bn. Naspers continued its strategy of reducing its dependence on its stake in Chinese giant Tencent. Group chief executive Bob van Dijk said: “In September, we announced our intention to list our video entertainment business. We believe this will unlock value for Naspers shareholders while creating an empowered, top 40 JSE-listed African entertainment company.” Naspers shares closed 2.02 percent lower at R2 763 on the JSE on Friday. – Staff Reporter