Naspers Fiscal Year 2022 Revenue Rose on E-Commerce Gains; Launches Buyback Program

By Anthony O. Goriainoff

Naspers Ltd. and its Amsterdam-listed subsidiary Prosus NV said Monday that revenue grew in fiscal 2022, bolstered by their e-commerce segments, and that they are launching an open-ended buyback program of both Naspers and Prosus shares.

South African investor Naspers--which owns a major stake in Chinese tech giant Tencent Holdings Ltd. through Prosus--said revenue for the year to March 31 was $7.94 billion, compared with $5.93 billion a year earlier.

Naspers said e-commerce segment revenue rose 56% to $10.7 billion. E-commerce segment revenue for Prosus was $9.8 billion, up 58%, it said.

Naspers said core headline earnings per share were $7.18, compared with $8.14.

Core headline earnings for Naspers fell 40% to $2.1 billion, with Prosus reporting core headline earnings of $3.7 billion, a drop of 23%. The group said this was due to the continuing investment in the e-commerce portfolio and a period of slower growth at Tencent, as it adapted to China's regulatory changes.

Group trading profit fell 10% to $5 billion, reflecting investments to expand market opportunity for each segment in the business, the group said.

The group said it had disposed of shares in JD.com Inc. for proceeds of around $3.67 billion. Those proceeds will be retained by the Prosus group for general corporate and liquidity purposes, it said.

"Our solid financial footing positions us well for the challenging operating environment and the execution of our strategy," the company said.

Write to Anthony O. Goriainoff at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 27, 2022 02:48 ET (06:48 GMT)

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