South African tech investor Naspers' profit slumps on lower Tencent contribution

Technology investor Naspers on Tuesday reported a 78% slump in annual profit, led by a drop in the contribution from China's Tencent which accounts for the bulk of earnings and revenue for the South African investor.

Its headline earnings per share, a profit measure, from continuing operations dropped to 119 U.S. cents for the year ended March 31, from 547 cents posted a year ago.

Naspers, which has its global investments housed in Amsterdam-listed Prosus, draws over two-thirds of its revenue from Tencent.


Its investment in Tencent, where it holds over a fourth of the company, also masks losses Naspers makes on an array of investments spanning 100 countries and businesses ranging from online classifieds to food delivery, fintech to education.

It posted revenue of $6.8 billion and its losses from ecommerce businesses including classifieds, fintech and food delivery came to $639 million.