South African multimedia giant Naspers has reported its full-year earnings rose by 25 per cent following the decline in value of the rand, which helped increase the media group’s overseas profit.
“The majority of our core earnings are generated from operations offshore. The currency-translation effect of the depreciation of the rand relative to the prior period will play a significant role in boosting expected headline earnings growth,” Naspers said in a statement.
The rand has recently weakened 16 per cent against the US dollar, the worst performer out of the 16 currencies Bloomberg tracks.
Naspers reported headline earnings per share, which excludes both non-operational and non-recurring items, were reportedly between 15 and 25 per cent higher in the 12 months through to March in comparison with ZAR1.85 (US$0.18) a year earlier.
Furthermore, Naspers said their earnings per share will be 100 per cent to 110 per cent higher than the 770 cents in the previous period due to selling off a portion of Mail.ru’s stake in Facebook.
