S.Africa's Naspers posts 4.2% drop in half-year profit

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa's Naspers Ltd said on Monday its profit for the half-year ended on Sept. 30 fell 4.2%, attributing the drop to the spin-off of subsidiary Prosus and the resulting reduction in its holding in international assets.

The company spun off its international assets into Prosus in September 2019 and listed it on the Amsterdam Stock Exchange, thereby reducing its stake in international assets to 72.66% from 100% a year ago.

Its core headline earnings per share (HEPS), the main profit measure in South Africa, dropped to 363 cents, down from 379 cents posted a year earlier.

Africa's biggest company by market capitalisation, which owns a 31% stake in Chinese internet giant Tencent Holdings through Prosus, recorded group revenue of $13 billion, up 27% for the half year.

Its revenue from Tencent grew 27% for the half-year, it said.

The company, and its subsidiaries and investments, have been among the biggest beneficiaries of a lockdown imposed across the world at different times to curb the spread of coronavirus.

"The group is ... well-positioned to build on the accelerating shift to online triggered by the pandemic," Naspers said in a statement. It has net cash of $4.6 billion as of Sept. 30.

However, it cautioned the current operating environment remains uncertain and the longer-term social and economic impact of COVID-19 is still unclear.

(Reporting by Promit Mukherjee; Editing by Emma Rumney and Stephen Coates)