Prosus doubles half-year core profit amid e-commerce pivot

By Leo Marchandon

(Reuters) -Dutch technology investor Prosus reported a 99% surge in its adjusted half-year core profit on Monday, driven by strong performances across its digital services and e-commerce portfolio.

Its adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) grew to $423 million from $213 million a year ago, while revenue jumped 22% to $3.6 billion, driven by robust results from its iFood and OLX platforms.

Prosus also confirmed its full-year guidance.

Majority-owned by South Africa's Naspers and the biggest shareholder of Chinese tech giant Tencent, Prosus is carrying out a major transformation from a passive investment firm into a hands-on operator of its e-commerce assets.

In Europe, it is integrating its 4.1 billion euro ($4.7 billion) acquisition of Just Eat Takeaway. It also announced a $1.3 billion deal to acquire French classifieds platform La Centrale in September, while Reuters reported in November it had shown early-stage interest in German auto marketplace Mobile.de.

In India, Prosus has invested $350 million in ride-hailing firm Rapido and $146 million in a stake in online travel agent Ixigo. Meanwhile, its Latin American iFood unit bought a stake in financial technology firm CRMBonus and was reportedly in advanced talks to buy benefits company Alelo for $905 million.

"We remain disciplined in managing our portfolio by divesting non-strategic businesses and allocating that capital towards our ecosystem strategy," Prosus said in a statement.

Divestitures generated $1.2 billion in proceeds in the first half, and the company expects to reach $2 billion by the end of the fiscal year.

Prosus added it had $18.3 billion in cash reserves, complemented by a further $2.5 billion available from an unused credit line.

It is committed to pursuing high-profile acquisitions across Europe, Latin America and India, Chief Financial Officer Nico Marais told Reuters. It also invested more than $100 million in the first half in developing agentic AI models tailored for its platforms.

Prosus' majority owner Naspers saw revenue grow 20% to $4.1 billion in the first half of the year, while adjusted EBITDA grew 96% to $433 million.

($1 = 0.8684 euros)

(Reporting by Leo Marchandon in Gdansk, editing by Milla Nissi-Prussak)