Naspers’ e-commerce portfolio worth almost R800bn

The value of Naspers’ e-commerce businesses, outside of Tencent, has grown to almost R800bn, the group disclosed on Monday.

Over the years, management has been trying to unlock value from its vast portfolio of businesses in areas such as food delivery, classifieds, fintech and education, which are not fully reflected in the Prosus share price.

The value of units such as PayU, Brazil’s iFood, Germany’s Delivery Hero and India’s Swiggy are dwarfed by the group’s stake in Tencent, the China-based technology and entertainment conglomerate, valued at about $160bn (R2.78-trillion).

The group previously said those units were valued at about $30bn.

Since then, CEO Fabricio Bloisi has reoriented the group around three main geographies, or ecosystems: Europe, Latin America and India.

Average estimates of ecosystem value by Prosus analysts show the following:

This translates to a total range of $31bn (R537.24bn) to $46bn (R797.19bn). This would imply that the portfolio has grown as much as 50% over a little more than two years.

The strategy appears to be bearing fruit, as Naspers reported a strong set of interim results driven by e-commerce growth and is on track to deliver its guidance of $1.1bn+ in adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (ebitda) for the full year.

Consolidated revenue for the six months ended September grew 20% to $4.1bn, driven by strong growth from iFood in Latin America (LatAm), OLX in Europe, and PayU in India.

E-commerce adjusted ebitda grew 71% to $557m.

Significant operating improvements across the group’s e-commerce portfolio drove a 96% increase in consolidated adjusted ebitda to $433m.

Core headline earnings — a measure of aftertax operating performance — grew 13% to $1.7bn, driven by strong growth in revenue and profitability of its consolidated e-commerce businesses and equity accounted investments, particularly Tencent.

Core headline earnings per share (HEPS) increased 24% due to “the very positive impact of the share-repurchase programme”, it said.

Bloisi said, “We are delivering as promised through strong execution, discipline and integration — driving deeper engagement with customers and unlocking new revenue streams.”

In Latin America, iFood is boosting revenue at the group’s online travel business, Despegar, while better execution and strategic acquisitions are strengthening its position in India.

“In Europe, we have invested in JET and La Centrale, which will deliver superior AI-powered consumer experiences in a high-potential market.”

“We are building the future with AI, and already have more than 20,000 AI agents helping us scale quicker and make smarter decisions. Our focus on results and innovation, backed by our Prosus Way culture, means we’re on track to meet financial year 2026 targets. But this is just the start, as we work to unlock an AI-first world for our 2-billion customers.”

At 2.54pm on Monday, Naspers shares were down 1.55% at R1,143.00, while Prosus securities were 2.7% weaker at R1,102.70.

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