Naspers-owned Prosus back in black

Prosus reported a first-half profit as the technology investor with more than two billion customers worldwide sold stakes in online businesses in China and South Africa.

Group adjusted earnings before interest and taxes totalled $60 million (R1 billion) in the six months through September from a loss a year earlier, the Amsterdam-based company said in a statement Monday. 

In September, it sold stakes in China’s Trip.com and South African online fashion retailer Superbalist. The firm also has an agreement to sell its Romanian food delivery company, Tazz.

The Euronext-listed technology firm, worth over $100 billion (R1.8 trillion), is looking for companies to leverage its reach and use AI to harness the next stage of e-commerce, CEO Fabricio Bloisi said last month. 

Prosus was spun out from Cape Town-headquartered Naspers, one of the biggest technology investors globally, and listed in Amsterdam about five years ago.  

Bloisi oversees both companies and is grappling with the legacy of a complicated business structure that stumped his predecessor.