Publications
Partners
Johannesburg - The share price of Naspers [JSE:NPN], the media group with one of the biggest market capitalisations on the JSE, flirted with a new all-time high on Thursday morning and it pulled the Industrial index and all the major indices higher as well.
The Naspers share price was at one stage almost 5% higher when it reached a new high of R1 441.90, beating the previous best of R1 432.42 set in August.
However, it lost some momentum and by midday the price was still 3.74% higher at R1 425.87.
Due to Naspers' weight, this move in its share price helped the Industrial index gain another 1.20% to 61 798 points, which means it is now firmly above the important resistance level of 61 160 which was breached on Wednesday.
The result was that the All-share index improved by 0.67% to 50 714 points and the Top 40 index rose by 0.73% to 45 264.
Resources and gold shares were still in the doldrums on Thursday morning, with the Gold index losing 1% and the Resources index 0.16% lower, but the Financial index also gained 0.33%.
Naspers was also the busiest share on Thursday morning in terms of value, and shares to the value of R1.031bn were traded as more than 725 000 shares changed hands in 6 348 transactions by midday.
The Naspers strong run is probably due to Tencent's third-quarter results, which were announced on Tuesday. Naspers owns 34% of the Chinese internet giant, which as such carries a major share of its income and market capitalisation.
Tencent results disappoint
The Tencent share price hardly moved in Hong Kong on Thursday morning, as investors were disappointed because the results did not meet analysts' expectations. Despite the negative comment, Tencent's revenue still rose by 27.4%.
Net income rose 46.4% to 5.66 billion yuan ($923.98m) in the third quarter, well below estimates of 6.173 billion yuan, according to a Thomson Reuters SmartEstimate poll of 10 analysts.
Revenue was up 27.5% to 19.81 billion yuan, versus forecasts of 20.57 billion based on a poll of 12 analysts. It was the slowest revenue growth in seven years.
The fact that the income did not meet expectations was due to sales from the lucrative gaming business dropping off due to compliance issues with Apple Inc's iOS mobile operating system.
Tencent's stock lost as much as 13% of its value after company executives warned in August that mobile gaming revenue growth could be flat during the second half of the year. Local investors were however still impressed with the numbers.
Technology stocks are also back in favour, with the Nasdaq index firmly higher on Wall Street on gains by Apple and Yahoo. Naspers is the biggest technology stock on the JSE investors can buy to share in the technology run.
Tencent also announced on Thursday morning that Chinese fans of Linkin Park and Jason Mraz will be able to stream licensed music from Tencent Holdings Ltd, after the internet firm signed a distribution deal with the Warner Music Group. The two companies said the deal would help music companies and artists by giving consumers better access to licensed music.
The Naspers share has increased by 27.5% over the last months and is 52.1% higher than a year ago, trading at a price to earnings ratio of 93.85.
Of the other heavyweights in the industrial sector, SABMiller [JSE:SAB] gained 1.44% to R631.28 and British American Tobacco [JSE:BTI] traded 0.65% higher at R645.16. Richemont [JSE:CFR] gained 0.25% to R645.16.
The Naspers share price was at one stage almost 5% higher when it reached a new high of R1 441.90, beating the previous best of R1 432.42 set in August.
However, it lost some momentum and by midday the price was still 3.74% higher at R1 425.87.
Due to Naspers' weight, this move in its share price helped the Industrial index gain another 1.20% to 61 798 points, which means it is now firmly above the important resistance level of 61 160 which was breached on Wednesday.
The result was that the All-share index improved by 0.67% to 50 714 points and the Top 40 index rose by 0.73% to 45 264.
Resources and gold shares were still in the doldrums on Thursday morning, with the Gold index losing 1% and the Resources index 0.16% lower, but the Financial index also gained 0.33%.
Naspers was also the busiest share on Thursday morning in terms of value, and shares to the value of R1.031bn were traded as more than 725 000 shares changed hands in 6 348 transactions by midday.
The Naspers strong run is probably due to Tencent's third-quarter results, which were announced on Tuesday. Naspers owns 34% of the Chinese internet giant, which as such carries a major share of its income and market capitalisation.
Tencent results disappoint
The Tencent share price hardly moved in Hong Kong on Thursday morning, as investors were disappointed because the results did not meet analysts' expectations. Despite the negative comment, Tencent's revenue still rose by 27.4%.
Net income rose 46.4% to 5.66 billion yuan ($923.98m) in the third quarter, well below estimates of 6.173 billion yuan, according to a Thomson Reuters SmartEstimate poll of 10 analysts.
Revenue was up 27.5% to 19.81 billion yuan, versus forecasts of 20.57 billion based on a poll of 12 analysts. It was the slowest revenue growth in seven years.
The fact that the income did not meet expectations was due to sales from the lucrative gaming business dropping off due to compliance issues with Apple Inc's iOS mobile operating system.
Tencent's stock lost as much as 13% of its value after company executives warned in August that mobile gaming revenue growth could be flat during the second half of the year. Local investors were however still impressed with the numbers.
Technology stocks are also back in favour, with the Nasdaq index firmly higher on Wall Street on gains by Apple and Yahoo. Naspers is the biggest technology stock on the JSE investors can buy to share in the technology run.
Tencent also announced on Thursday morning that Chinese fans of Linkin Park and Jason Mraz will be able to stream licensed music from Tencent Holdings Ltd, after the internet firm signed a distribution deal with the Warner Music Group. The two companies said the deal would help music companies and artists by giving consumers better access to licensed music.
The Naspers share has increased by 27.5% over the last months and is 52.1% higher than a year ago, trading at a price to earnings ratio of 93.85.
Of the other heavyweights in the industrial sector, SABMiller [JSE:SAB] gained 1.44% to R631.28 and British American Tobacco [JSE:BTI] traded 0.65% higher at R645.16. Richemont [JSE:CFR] gained 0.25% to R645.16.
* Fin24 is part of Media24, a subsidiary of Naspers. Naspers
has a 34% stake in Tencent.
