Naspers, a South African multinational conglomerate, has warned that its core headline earnings for the financial year ending in March 2022 could decrease by up to 65% compared to the previous year due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Tencent, a Chinese multinational conglomerate.
- Naspers, a South African multinational conglomerate, has warned that its core headline earnings for the financial year ending in March 2022 could drop by as much as 65% compared to the previous year.
- Naspers is a major player in the South African economy, with interests in various sectors such as e-commerce, media, and internet services.
- The company has been actively investing in technology companies both locally and internationally and is a major shareholder in various tech giants such as Tencent and Delivery Hero.
- The company attributes the expected decline to the fact that it realized significant gains from the sale of its stake in Tencent, a Chinese multinational conglomerate, in the previous year, which will not be repeated this year.
- Tencent, in which Naspers holds a significant stake, has been hit hard by lockdowns and other restrictions imposed to curb the spread of the virus, which have affected its online gaming and advertising businesses.
- Naspers’ CEO, Bob van Dijk, has stated that the company is closely monitoring the situation and implementing measures to mitigate the impact of the pandemic on its operations.
- The warning of lower earnings highlights the challenges that even large corporations can face in navigating the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the global business environment, particularly in the tech sector.