Naspers 1st Half Pretax Profit, Revenue Rise on Investee Companies

Naspers Ltd. (NPN.JO) said Wednesday that its pretax profit and revenue increased in the first half of fiscal 2018 as the South African investment company benefited from growth in its e-commerce businesses.

Naspers said it made a profit of $1.22 billion for the six months to Sept. 30, rising from $685 million the year before. The increase was largely driven by contributions to earnings from investee companies. Excluding equity-accounted investments, revenue rose to $3.11 billion from $2.96 billion.

The company said that its core headline earnings--its measure of sustainable operating performance--rose 65% to $1.50 billion, benefiting from its investment in Chinese technology company Tencent Holdings Ltd. (0700.HK) and increased profitability in its e-commerce businesses.

Naspers said that going forward, it intends to drive scale to bring its e-commerce business to profitability and cash-generation, while maintaining tight cost controls on more mature businesses. The company said that its balance sheet remains strong and that its current business plan is fully funded.

Write to Adam Clark at adam.clark@dowjones.com; @AdamDowJones

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 29, 2017 09:05 ET (14:05 GMT)