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

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.

Prosus declared a dividend of 14 European cents (15 U.S. cents) a share.

"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 03:00 ET (07:00 GMT)

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