South Africa's Naspers intends to pursue additional initial public offerings (IPOs) over the next 18 months following the successful launch of Swiggy.
South African technology investor Naspers announced on Monday that its e-commerce subsidiary, Prosus, intends to pursue additional listings following last month's initial public offering of Swiggy in India. This comes as the company reported a 74% increase in core earnings for the first half of the year.
Naspers aims for Amsterdam-listed Prosus, which has significant international investments including a 24.3% stake in Tencent, to achieve a profit of $400 million and revenue of $6.2 billion for the financial year ending March 2025.
"We experienced robust growth and profitability across our portfolio, and we are optimistic about maintaining this growth trajectory," stated Fabricio Bloisi, CEO of Naspers and Prosus, during an earnings call.
The projected $400 million in adjusted earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) marks a substantial rise from the $38 million reported in the previous financial year for Prosus.
Prosus plans to list PayU next year, along with other Indian investments such as the e-commerce platform Meesho and the online jewelry retailer Bluestone within the next 18 months.
Ervin Tu, the chief investment officer for Naspers and Prosus, noted that there are numerous potential listings in India even beyond the 18-month timeframe, highlighting Captain Fresh, an Indian seafood company, as a future prospect.
The e-commerce portfolio encompasses food delivery services like iFood in Brazil and Delivery Hero, online marketplaces such as OLX, educational software companies like SkillSoft and Stack Overflow, as well as payment solutions including the India-focused PayU.
Naspers reported that its core headline earnings for continuing operations increased to $1.5 billion for the six months ending September 30, up from $866 million, while Prosus recorded core headline earnings of $3.5 billion, rising from $2 billion.
Group revenue grew by 23% to $3.4 billion, and adjusted EBIT turned around to a profit of $36 million, compared to a loss of $121 million, as the e-commerce segment became profitable.
Prosus reported a 26% increase in consolidated e-commerce revenue, reaching $3 billion, fueled by robust growth in payments and fintech, e-commerce, and food delivery, according to Naspers. The adjusted EBIT for e-commerce turned around to a profit of $181 million, compared to a loss of $36 million previously.