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IOL News
a day ago
- Business
- IOL News
Prosus obtains clearance for Just Eat deal from European Commission
The European Commission has cleared Prosus's acquisition of Just Eat global consumer internet group Prosus on Monday said. The European Commission has cleared Prosus's acquisition of Just Eat (JET), global consumer internet group Prosus on Monday said. This was the final regulatory approval needed to close the offer. Clearance allows Prosus to move forward with its vision to build a leading European tech ecosystem, one that will lead not only in food delivery, but in consumer platforms and AI. Prosus said its investment in AI will reinvent the consumer experience, and by scaling its AI solutions across JET's European operations, will better serve millions of customers every day. Fabricio Bloisi, Prosus's CEO said, 'We're thrilled by the European Commission's swift approval of our acquisition of JET. Innovation doesn't wait, and we can now get to work quickly, as AI is rapidly reshaping food delivery. This milestone marks a bold investment in Europe's AI future and strengthens our commitment to the continent. 'With JET's trusted brand and leading positions, combined with Prosus's technical expertise and global scale, we're poised to accelerate growth, enhance customer experiences, and unlock new value for our partners, drivers, and shareholders. Our ambition is clear: to build a true European tech champion and lead the next chapter in food delivery innovation,' Bloisi said. Prosus has engaged constructively with the European Commission over the past months to secure regulatory clearance. As part of Prosus's continued commitment to fostering a dynamic and competitive food delivery sector in Europe, Prosus said it has agreed to significantly reduce its equity stake in Delivery Hero to a single digit percentage, within 12 months of the European Commission approval. In addition, Prosus will not recommend or appoint any future individual connected with Naspers/Prosus to the Delivery Hero Management or Supervisory Boards, or governing bodies. "These commitments reflect Prosus's desire to move swiftly and bring JET into the Prosus ecosystem and begin the work necessary to accelerate JET's performance," it said. BUSINESS REPORT
Daily Maverick
23-06-2025
- Business
- Daily Maverick
Naspers' Fabricio Bloisi reports transformative growth as e-commerce profits soar to $443-million
With a billion dollar swing in cashflow, profits from its e-commerce portfolio, and a R900bn buyback powered by Tencent, Naspers has entered its next act. CEO Fabricio Bloisi says the party has only just begun. It's been 11 months since Fabricio Bloisi stepped into the corner office at Naspers and Prosus, the tech investment arm of the company. If their latest financial results are anything to go by, he picked a good time to join the party. In the company's latest financial results, a surge in e-commerce adjusted gross profits to $443-million (R8-billion) was reported. This translated into a 100% dividend hike, a $1-billion (R18-billion) swing into free cash flow territory, and yet another leg in the marathon buyback programme. If Bloisi is to be believed, 'we are just getting started'. Positive cash flow Two years ago, Naspers had negative cash flow, and was haemorrhaging billions across its portfolio. Today, its free cash flow is positive, and for the first time its e-commerce businesses are contributing more to the bottom line than the Tencent dividends that prop up the group's financials. With Tencent already having paid its $1.2-billion (R22-billion) dividend for this year, the pressure to lean on it as a crutch has eased. 'We certainly have the ambition to grow this (e-commerce contribution) substantially in the year ahead,' said Naspers CFO Nico Marais, addressing the media after the company's annual financial results were announced on Monday, 23 June 2025. The group is seeing scale and operating leverage kick in. iFood orders, which is their food delivery service in Brazil, hit 120 million in March alone, achieving 30% revenue growth. OLX, the online marketplace, saw a 5% increase in its gross profit margin and a 60% profit increase. PayU India, a payment and fintech business owned by Prosus, came close to breaking even in the second half of FY2025. 'Adjusted EBIT (gross profit) for our e-commerce businesses was $443-million,' said Marais. 'Most importantly, that growth is translating into improved profitability.' The AI flywheel According to Bloisi's vision, AI is a key driver of the company's gains. He sees AI as the connective tissue across Naspers' global portfolio. 'We talk about ecosystems, we talk about innovation, about AI, about how to have technology that is best in class in the world,' he said. AI was already streamlining the company's operations through smarter customer support, optimised logistics, and personal marketing, Marais said. 'Our grocery business is far more efficient,' he said. 'They've improved its unit economics substantially over the past year. OLX's top line grew by about 18% — that shows the operating leverage that we have within the business where AI and other efficiencies are helping.' Bloisi says they are pushing to lead in the tech ecosystems of Latin America, India, and Europe. 'I believe we should have much more investment in training, developing, and education related to AI… my expectation (is) that Prosus is going to lead this through Naspers.' Shareholders are finally seeing daylight While Naspers has never struggled with asset value on paper, the market has discounted its shares due to structural complexity and a negative perception in growth prospects. Its buyback programme, launched in 2022 and funded by Tencent share sales, was intended to address this yawning discount between share price and net asset value. 'Through the share buyback we have now returned more than $50-billion to our shareholders,' Marais reported. 'We have improved the underlying net asset value per share by more than 15% and reduced the number of shares in issue by more than a third.' The buyback programme will continue as a key component of the group's capital allocation strategy. How does this affect you? Naspers is doubling down on its e-commerce strongholds like Takealot and Mr D. Expect better deals and services. Naspers says it's investing in AI talent and training, which could open up opportunities in tech and digital operations in South Africa. If you hold Naspers of Prosus stock, rising dividends, buybacks, and stronger results could lift share prices. Leveraging global talent to support local operations keeps entrants like Amazon on their toes, which is good for customers. Buying, selling, and the next act This past financial year was one of buying and selling at scale for the group. It sold off $2.6-billion (R47-billion) in assets while simultaneously deploying $7-billion (R127-billion) in acquisitions, including the Despegar travel platform and a pending deal with Just Eat 'We are going to keep the companies we believe in and the companies that help our ecosystem. If there are companies that don't help our ecosystems, we are going to cash out, sell, realise the investment and use the investment to keep growing,' said Bloisi. For the year ahead, the group has $11-billion (R199-billion) ready for new investments, but the short-term focus remains on executing and integrating recent moves. 'My big focus now is to complete the Just Eat transaction and make sure we have exceptional operations if we deliver in Europe,' Bloisi said. 'After that, we are going to keep making aggressive moves to create a global leader.' And what of South Africa? While Prosus focused on growing in Latin America, India and Europe, Naspers was holding the fort at home. It was not interested in new African investments, for now, but was doubling down on South Africa's digital economy through its existing portfolios, Bloisi said. The company's stake in Takealot, Superbalist, Mr D Food, Property24 and Autotrader is targeting the pipeline of becoming local champions. 'We are already investing more (in Takealot) than Amazon,' says Bloisi, adding that they were leveraging their global group — people from Brazil, India, and Europe working directly with Takealot. 'Our objective is to win the competition against the new entrants. We are from South Africa and we are there to win.' Bloisi expects the market to catch up. 'My expectation is that (analysts) are going to read the new numbers and say: 'Oh my god, they are much better than we thought,' and update the numbers.' DM
IOL News
23-06-2025
- Business
- IOL News
Prosus boosts dividends and share buybacks after strong financial results
Amsterdam based global tech group Prosus has in the past year to March 31, 2025 focused on delivering earnings growth from its global consumer orientated internet platform businesses. Image: File Prosus, the Amsterdam and JSE-listed global technology group and Naspers subsidiary, gained up to 3.57% on the JSE Monday after reporting a maiden annual profit, a year after the appointment of CEO Fabricio Bloisi, who put the group on a new strategy. 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. He said Prosus may provide further details about its future plans for its stake in Tencent at a Capital Markets Day on Wednesday, May 25. Prosus's share price was trading higher at R987.48 on Monday afternoon, continuing a 47% rise in the price over 12 months. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. 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Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Next Stay Close ✕ 'Prosus is rapidly transforming into an operating technology company, focused on lifestyle e-commerce, and powered by innovation and collaboration. I'm confident our enhanced culture and ecosystem approach, powered by Prosus, will fuel our journey to create the next $100bn in value,' Bloisi said on Monday morning in a statement. E-commerce profitability improved to $443m from $38m, ahead of the group's guidance. 'We expect this momentum to continue, and to add at least the same level of incremental EBIT in the 2026 financial year. The 2025 financial year marks the first year that Prosus is free cash flow positive, excluding the Tencent dividend, with a free cash flow improvement of $513m,' said Prosus CFO Nico Marais. Over the past year, Prosus did two significant deals to strengthen its regional ecosystems. The acquisition of Despegar was completed in May 2025, and its products were being integrated into iFood's Clube membership. Good progress was being made on the Just Eat acquisition to create a new 'AI-powered tech champion in Europe,' said Bloisi. In the food delivery business, iFood exceeded growth and profitability targets and drove innovation and ecosystem expansion. The classifieds businesses reported a strong performance with a significant jump in profitability and expanding margins. In the payments and fintech operations, strong topline growth and improving profitability were reported despite challenging market conditions. In Ethiopia, eMAG achieved the target of overall profitability for the financial year to March 31, 2025. Chairman Koos Bekker said in the prosus annual report their open-ended share-repurchase program was designed to unlock value for shareholders by increasing net asset value per share over time.
Mint
23-06-2025
- Business
- Mint
Swiggy delivers for Prosus with 23% IRR, venture portfolio a mixed bag
Dutch investment group Prosus' internal rate of return for Indian portfolio companies Swiggy and PayU India stood at 23% and 13%, respectively, in 2024-25. Prosus' venture investments ElasticRun, Meesho, and PharmEasy had an IRR of 28%, 20%, and -29%, respectively, showed the firm's financial results for the fiscal year. In calendar year 2024, Swiggy saw its gross order value (GOV) grow by 29%, while its adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (Ebitda) losses fell to $182 million from $261 million a year ago. 'In Q125, Swiggy delivered GOV growth of 40% on-year, and quick-commerce GOV growth of 101% on-year, with 316 new dark stores added in the quarter,' Prosus said in a statement. Netherlands-based payment solutions provider PayU's India business saw its total payments volume grow by 17% and revenue by 14% on-year. Overall, the business's adjusted Earnings before interest and taxes (Ebit) losses improved to $11 million. Prosus, owned by South African technology investor Naspers Ltd, saw its core headline earnings grow 47% on-year to $7.4 billion, up from $5 billion in the previous fiscal. Meanwhile, the firm's revenue jumped to $6.2 billion, up from $5.5 billion, a 21% on-year increase. The e-commerce portfolio's consolidated revenue in 2024-25 grew 21% to hit $6.2 billion, up from $5.5 billion. Prosus' food delivery companies delivered revenue of $1.3 billion, up 30% on-year from $1.2 billion. Payments and fintech portfolio firms generated $1.3 billion in revenue, up 34% on-year from $1.1 billion. 'Prosus is rapidly transforming into an operating technology company, focused on lifestyle e-commerce, and powered by innovation and collaboration,' said newly appointed chief executive Fabricio Bloisi in the statement. Going forward, Prosus will make more selective investments, a departure from its roots in the venture capital model of investing in several companies and doubling down on the winners. With Bloisi's appointment, the firm is now focused on three key geographies: India, Latin America, and Europe. In fact, Prosus is in the process of acquiring Just Eat Takeaway, a Netherlands-based food delivery marketplace, in a €4.1 billion all-cash offer.
CNBC
23-06-2025
- Business
- CNBC
Tech investor Prosus bets on India to produce a $100 billion company
India will produce a $100 billion tech company in the coming years, the CEO of Prosus told CNBC on Monday, as the firm bets on the country for its next big investment win. Prosus, which is majority owned by South African company Naspers, is one of the biggest tech investors in the world. The company is hoping it can replicate the success it saw with its return on Chinese social media and gaming giant Tencent. Prosus' parent company Naspers bought a near 50% holding in Tencent back in 2001 for around $32 million. That early stake in Tencent is now worth billions of dollars, with the WeChat operator valued at nearly $600 billion as of Monday. "The companies there [in India] are still small, our investment there is around $10 billion, as it was in China 14 years ago," Prosus CEO Fabricio Bloisi told CNBC. "What's the learning? We believe it's going to be, not a $20 billion company, but a $100 billion company, maybe [a] half a trillion dollar company in India. So we are not investing there to sell next month." Prosus has invested in some of the buzziest tech firms in India, including payments service PayU and e-commerce company Meesho. Prosus also owns just under 25% of food delivery firm Swiggy, which went public in November. Bloisi said listing Prosus' India investments are a key part of its strategy. He added that he expects five Indian companies that Prosus is invested in to carry out an initial public offering this year. "I think this is very good for India, because we have the local markets here investing in the local companies. This was critical for U.S., this was critical for China. I think if India can greater strong local markets investing in tech, it's going to be amazing for India," Bloisi said. Prosus has also been targeting big investments in Europe and the Latin America. The company's playbook revolves around the idea of ecosystems surrounding services, which Tencent managed to execute in China. Tencent runs China's biggest messaging app called WeChat, which integrates features like payments and the ability to hail taxis or order food. "We believe that we have ecosystems, just like we have in China in the U.S., like Microsoft or Uber or Google or Meta. They're not just one product. They have one product that enables cross-sell and technology shared between many other adjacencies. That's what we are doing," Bloisi said. In Latin America, Prosus has stakes in Brazilian food delivery firm iFood, online travel firm Despegar and online marketplace OLX Brasil. Bloisi said food delivery and payments are the foundation of their investments, followed by areas like e-commerce and experiences such as travel. "That's the kind of ecosystem we believe. We learned that from China, we are doing that in that in Latin America right now, very, very successfully," Bloisi said. In the meantime, Prosus this year made a proposal to acquire European food delivery giant Just Eat in an all-cash deal worth around 4.1 billion euros ($4.7 billion). Bloisi said Prosus on Monday officially began proceedings to seek permission from the European Commission to approve the deal. The Prosus CEO said he was "optimistic" that the European regulators will "approve it quickly."
