Double-digit growth in revenue reported for Prosus
Internet assets division of Naspers says food delivery component rose 105%
PROSUS yesterday reported double-digit growth in revenue for the year to the end of March on strong performance from its food delivery segment.
The group, which is Naspers’ international internet assets division, said the food delivery component rose 105 percent.
It said revenue, measured on an economic-interest basis, increased 23 percent to $21.5 billion (R371bn), while trading profit grew 16 percent to $3.8bn, driven by Tencent and e-commerce that grew 21 percent year on year and 33 percent to $4.3bn, respectively
Its core headline earnings inched up by 13 percent to $3.4bn.
The group said its board declared a gross dividend of 11 euro cents (R2.13) per listed N ordinary share.
Chief executive Bob van Dijk said the past year was transformational for the group since the listing of its international internet assets as Prosus on Euronext Amsterdam last September
“This is an exciting step forward, opening up fresh opportunities to build long-term sustainable value,” Van Dijk said.
“Throughout the year, we continued to execute our long-term strategy of building leading consumer internet companies. This was reflected in a solid performance driven by revenue growth, notably the food delivery segment, and improved profitability in our e-commerce businesses, particularly the classifieds segment, underpinned by continued growth of Tencent.”
The group saw food delivery orders shoot up a whopping 102 percent, with revenue accelerating 105 percent to $800 million.
It said the payments and fintech segments remained profitable and continued to grow.
Van Dijk said the food and delivery sector had evolved rapidly, moving from a marketplace model to implementing an own-delivery model.
He said he would invest heavily in the division to grow both the size of the market and its position.
Prosus, however, said the coronavirus had a negative impact on the operations.
“In recent months, Covid-19 has had a marked impact on the daily lives of citizens and economies across the world. We are working hard to protect our businesses for the long term.
“At both a group and a local company level, we have also provided support to governments and communities to play our part in the response to the pandemic.
“While the global societal and economic impacts of Covid-19 are likely to persist for some time, we are confident of our ability to weather the storm. We also expect that group businesses are likely to benefit from a further acceleration of the underlying trend toward online – brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic – to emerge well-placed for long-term growth,” Van Dijk said.
Prosus invested $1.3bn in existing and new businesses, while it retains a solid net cash position of $4.5bn and an undrawn $2.5bn revolving credit facility.
Prosus shares closed 0.47 percent higher at R1 558.69 on the JSE yesterday.