Prosus boosts dividends and share buybacks after strong results

PROSUS, the Amsterdam and JSE-listed global technology group and Naspers subsidiary, gained up to 3.57% on the JSE yesterday after reporting a maiden annual profit, a year after the appointment of CEO Fabricio Bloisi, who put the group on a new strategy.

- EDWARD WEST

The strategy that Bloisi began implementing in July last year, shortly after his appointment, entailed a move away from being mainly an investment holding company toward building large-scale lifestyle platforms across sectors like food delivery, classifieds, fintech, and edtech. The strong results meant the group was able to raise the dividend 100% to €0.20.

Shareholders also benefited from $50 billion in share buybacks that drove 15% growth in net asset value per share. Adjusted earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) increased to $179 million versus a loss of $118m last year.

Gryphon Asset Management research analyst Kasparus Treurnicht said the results indicated a timely focus on operations and EBIT growth given the increasingly tough operating environment, He said the higher share price on Monday, considering the small decline in share price of Prosus’ biggest earnings contributor Tencent, which is based in China, indicated that shareholders were happy with the e-commerce results.