Naspers is the top company on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange and a major player in the country’s All-Share Index. The company has outlined an ambitious vision for its future—a 100% increase in its value and continued momentum for the Naspers share price.
Boasting an 88% increase in core headline earnings and a consolidated revenue growth of 8%, Naspers reported a profitable full year ended 31 March 2024. The company is certainly on a lot of investors’ watchlists.
Below, we discuss the Naspers share price, forecast, and recent updates.
Naspers Share Price Data
| ZAR (South African Rand) | |
| Market capitalization | 751.7 billion |
| Price range (year) | 4135.50 – 4202.86 |
| ESP-TTM | 14836.28 |
| Dividend yield | 0.21% |
| Authorized shares | 500,000,000 |
| Issued shares | 178,284,116 |
As of this writing, Naspers’ market capitalization is ZAR 751.7 billion, making it the biggest company in South Africa and the JSE by market cap.
The current price range is R 4135.50 to R 4202.86, and Earnings per share/trailing 12 months are R 14,836.28.
Meanwhile, the holdings giant’s dividend yield is only at 0.21%, which may reflect the company’s current focus on capital growth.
Naspers’s dividends are decided by its subsidiary Prosus, which has recommended a R 874 cent dividend per ordinary share. Naspers has not yet finalized a dividend payout for the fiscal year ended March 2024.
Naspers Limited is listed as NPN on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE:NPN), with a secondary listing on the Londen Stock Exchange as NPSN (LSE:NPSN).
Related: SA stocks are having its strongest year in 11 years
Financial health for 2024
Naspers has released its financial statement for fiscal year ended 31 March 2024.
The statement announced a profitable year with an 88% increase in core headline earnings (after taxes) to USD 2.1 billion. Meanwhile, its international asset division, Prosus, was reported to be valued at USD 100 billion.
According to the tech investment company, the Group focused on profitable growth in its core business and improving existing underperforming investments.
Access the full statement here.
Meanwhile, the open-ended share-repurchase program is still in place. Since its inception in June 2022, the program has reduced the free float share count by 21% and generated USD 30 billion of value for shareholders.
The main driver for its revenue growth is attributed to the Classifieds and Food Delivery investments, namely classifieds on OLX and strong performance for global food delivery business iFood, and South African food delivery giant Mr. D.
Moreover, the investment company also has majority stakes in FinTech company PayU, an online payment service provider that also saw strong revenue growth within the year.
On another positive note, the company’s operating losses decreased by USD 511m, and its businesses increased in profitability.
What is Naspers?
Naspers is one of the largest technology investors in the world and boasts one of the most diverse investment portfolios in South Africa. It is currently based in Cape Town, South Africa, and has various interests in retail, publishing, and venture capital investments.
The company was founded in 1915 and quickly established itself as the largest publishing company in South Africa. It regularly published and distributed newspapers, magazines, and books.
Naspers currently has two major business units: Prosus and Naspers South Africa.
Naspers South Africa operates some of the biggest businesses in South Africa, which include Media 24, and Takealot.com.
Media24, South Africa’s dominant publisher
Naspers owns and operates Media24, Africa’s largest media and publishing company. It currently publishes and distributes 18 magazines, 27 newspapers, and four online publications – including News24, the largest subscription-led news website in Africa.
Takealot.com, largest online retailer in SA
takealot.com is regarded as SA’s largest online retailer and pioneered online shopping in South Africa. It also operates Mr. D, the country’s largest food delivery service.
Prosus
Prosus is a Dutch-based investment company that functions as the international assets division of South Africa-based Naspers and is among the largest technology investors in the world.
Prosus has a diverse portfolio, including social media, gaming, classifieds, payments, food tech, and e-commerce, which are used by more than 1.5 billion people worldwide.
Its most profitable investments are tech companies that include Tencent – the biggest company in the video game industry; Skillsoft, an online education platform; food online delivery services iFood, Delivery Hero, Swiggy; and OLX.
What’s New for Naspers?
Over the years, the giant investment group Naspers has undergone many changes. Currently, the Group functions more as a holding company, investing in various tech companies in the finance, food, media, and retail sectors.
New CEO for Naspers and Prosus
Recently, Naspers and Prosus appointed a new CEO, Brazilian entrepreneur Fabricio Bloisi.
Bloisi is known for owning and establishing iFood, Latin America’s biggest food delivery service. On his first 100 days as the new Naspers/Prosus CEO, Bloisi shared an update with shareholders and outlined his aggressive objectives for the company.
In the statement, he wrote that he wanted to double Prosus’s value from $100 billion to $200 billion by focusing on its existing profitable businesses. Additionally, he promised substantial returns to shareholders.
Furthermore, he stated that the change in CEO was warranted because of the company’s poor performance over the past years, despite being the top company in South Africa.
“I don’t think [Prosus] had a good performance in the last five years. Maybe that’s why they changed the CEO,” said Bloisi. He added that many people were getting high compensation even if the company was not profitable.
Previous CEO Bob Van Dijk left after a nine-year tenure as CEO of Naspers and Prosus. During his tenure, he acquired a majority stake in China’s biggest technology conglomerate, Tencent.
However, he was criticized for letting Tencent overshadow other investments, limiting the company’s overall growth.
Deploy AI everywhere
Another mandate by the new CEO is that AI will be integrated across all business lines. According to Bloisi, using AI will create a more efficient and fast-paced environment for the business and clients.
Additionally, Prosus, under Bloisi’s leadership, has committed to actively managing their portfolio. They have recently sold their stake on Trip.com for $1.5 billion, as well as selling Superbalist, South Africa’s largest fashion online retailer.
Bloisi assures that this sale will allow them to grow and expand Takealot and Mr. D’s operations further.
Bottomline for the Naspers Share Price
Naspers is one of the world’s largest technology investors. It is known for its vast portfolio of online classifieds, payments, and food delivery services. Naspers also has a significant stake in Prosus, a Dutch-based Internet group.
Naspers is among the top players in the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, and a decrease in this company’s stock value would also weaken the All-Share Index’s performance.
Naspers’ new CEO is certainly providing many avenues for investors to feel excited and foresee profitability for the business, promises a 100% increase in the company’s value for the next year and AI implementation on all business lines.
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