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Johannesburg - Naspers [JSE:NPN], Africa's biggest media company, posted a 33% rise in first-half earnings on Tuesday, helped by strong performance of its pay-TV and internet units, but cautioned that full-year profit could be hit by the increasing cost of sport on television.
The company said core headline earnings per share (EPS) totalled 860 cents for the six months to end-September compared with 648c in the same period a year earlier, at the top end of its own forecasts for an increase of between 25% to 35%.
Naspers considers core headline EPS as the best gauge of its earnings. The measure excludes one-off and non-operating items.
While other media companies have been battered by the recession and a decline in traditional advertising revenue, Naspers has thrived due to investments in internet companies and pay television, particularly in fast-growing emerging markets.
The company said revenue rose 18% to R15.8bn in the first half.
Revenue at its flagship pay-TV unit Multichoice, home to SuperSport and M-Net, rose 20% to R10.2bn, helped by an increase of 498 000 new customers to 5.4 million subscribers, boosted by the 2010 Fifa World Cup.
In South Africa, the gross base expanded by 363 000 to 3.2 million households, with the lower-priced Compact bouquet delivering the most growth (242 000 homes).
The internet business grew its revenue by 54% to R5.5bn, boosted by the contribution of Tencent, China's biggest internet company by market value.
Naspers owns more than 30% of Tencent, whose QQ platforms now manage 636 million active instant messaging user accounts.
Naspers also owns a 29% stake in Russia's Digital Sky Technologies, which owns Mail.ru, the internet firm listed on the London Stock Exchange earlier this month.
Naspers, which also has operations in Central and Eastern Europe, China, Russia, Latin America, Africa, India, Thailand and the US, said it expects full-year revenue to remain healthy.
Early indications are that revenue growth could remain healthy over the next six months, the company said in a statement.
“By contrast, the profit line could be hit by the increasing cost of sport on pay-TV and an acceleration of development spend in several of our business sectors.”
Shares in Naspers have risen 22% this year, outperforming a 9% increase in the Johannesburg's Top 40 index.
The company said core headline earnings per share (EPS) totalled 860 cents for the six months to end-September compared with 648c in the same period a year earlier, at the top end of its own forecasts for an increase of between 25% to 35%.
Naspers considers core headline EPS as the best gauge of its earnings. The measure excludes one-off and non-operating items.
While other media companies have been battered by the recession and a decline in traditional advertising revenue, Naspers has thrived due to investments in internet companies and pay television, particularly in fast-growing emerging markets.
The company said revenue rose 18% to R15.8bn in the first half.
Revenue at its flagship pay-TV unit Multichoice, home to SuperSport and M-Net, rose 20% to R10.2bn, helped by an increase of 498 000 new customers to 5.4 million subscribers, boosted by the 2010 Fifa World Cup.
In South Africa, the gross base expanded by 363 000 to 3.2 million households, with the lower-priced Compact bouquet delivering the most growth (242 000 homes).
The internet business grew its revenue by 54% to R5.5bn, boosted by the contribution of Tencent, China's biggest internet company by market value.
Naspers owns more than 30% of Tencent, whose QQ platforms now manage 636 million active instant messaging user accounts.
Naspers also owns a 29% stake in Russia's Digital Sky Technologies, which owns Mail.ru, the internet firm listed on the London Stock Exchange earlier this month.
Naspers, which also has operations in Central and Eastern Europe, China, Russia, Latin America, Africa, India, Thailand and the US, said it expects full-year revenue to remain healthy.
Early indications are that revenue growth could remain healthy over the next six months, the company said in a statement.
“By contrast, the profit line could be hit by the increasing cost of sport on pay-TV and an acceleration of development spend in several of our business sectors.”
Shares in Naspers have risen 22% this year, outperforming a 9% increase in the Johannesburg's Top 40 index.
