Share

Naspers climbs as sale of part of Tencent stake lifts earnings

Johannesburg - Naspers [JSE: NPN] shares rose after Africa’s largest company said it expects to report core earnings growth for the just-ended fiscal year, bolstered by the sale of a stake in Chinese Internet giant Tencent Holdings.

The South African media and investment company raised $9.8bn (about R116bn) in March by selling a 2% stake in Tencent. The shares rose 0.8% to R3 379 by 15:40.

Naspers has said it would use the money from the sale of Tencent shares to invest in its classifieds, online food delivery and financial technology businesses and make other investments.

It plans to release earnings around June 22 for the year ended March 31.

Growth also will be boosted because the company changed the way it calculates core headline earnings, Naspers said in a statement Wednesday.

In March Fin24 reported that Naspers would sell 190 million of its Tencent shares to accelerate and scale its e-commerce business. The sale reduced Naspers' stake in Tencent from 33.2% to 31.2%.

At the time CEO Bob van Dijk told Fin24 that the group was “excited” about the returns from the ecommerce businesses.

Besides its stake in Tencent, which operates the WeChat messaging service, Naspers owns newspapers, operates pay-television services and has investments in a range of internet companies.

The share price was trading up 1.23% at R3 393 by 17:07.

* Fin24's parent company Media24 is part of the Naspers Group. Naspers owns a stake in Tencent.

* Sign up to Fin24's top news in your inbox: SUBSCRIBE TO FIN24 NEWSLETTER

We live in a world where facts and fiction get blurred
Who we choose to trust can have a profound impact on our lives. Join thousands of devoted South Africans who look to News24 to bring them news they can trust every day. As we celebrate 25 years, become a News24 subscriber as we strive to keep you informed, inspired and empowered.
Join News24 today
heading
description
username
Show Comments ()
Rand - Dollar
18.94
-0.2%
Rand - Pound
23.90
-0.0%
Rand - Euro
20.43
+0.2%
Rand - Aus dollar
12.34
+0.1%
Rand - Yen
0.13
-0.2%
Platinum
910.50
+1.5%
Palladium
1,016.25
+1.4%
Gold
2,220.89
+1.2%
Silver
24.88
+1.0%
Brent Crude
86.09
-0.2%
Top 40
68,346
+1.0%
All Share
74,536
+0.8%
Resource 10
57,251
+2.8%
Industrial 25
103,936
+0.6%
Financial 15
16,502
-0.1%
All JSE data delayed by at least 15 minutes Iress logo
Company Snapshot
Editorial feedback and complaints

Contact the public editor with feedback for our journalists, complaints, queries or suggestions about articles on News24.

LEARN MORE
Government tenders

Find public sector tender opportunities in South Africa here.

Government tenders
This portal provides access to information on all tenders made by all public sector organisations in all spheres of government.
Browse tenders