Publications
Partners
Johannesburg - Global internet and media company Naspers [JSE:NPN] will change the presentation currency in its consolidated financial statements from the rand to the US dollar.
The move will take effect for the financial year ended March 31.
The company, in a statement, said it’s made the change as more than 70% of its revenue - measured on an economic interest basis - is sourced from outside South Africa.
Among Naspers’ key international investments is its stake in Chinese internet giant Tencent. Naspers has a 34% stake in Tencent.
“Over the past 100 years, the group has evolved from a single-country newspaper business and early investor in pay television to a video-entertainment leader and global internet and e-commerce group with operations in over 130 countries,” said the company.
“Coupled with the evolution of the business, the group’s shareholder base is now largely comprised of foreign investors to whom financial reporting in ZAR is of limited relevance. Internally, the board also bases its performance evaluation and many investment decisions on USD financial information,” said the company.
However, Naspers said that functional currencies of the group’s underlying businesses in their primary economic environments remain unchanged.
“Foreign exchange exposures will therefore be unaffected by the change, albeit that the effects of such exposures will be presented in USD,” said the company.
Naspers further said that dividends will continue to be declared in South African rands, with the relevant exchange rate announced at the time of the dividend payment.
*Fin24 is part of Media24 which is owned by Naspers.
