
Naspers Accelerates Growth and Profitability, With 18X Improvement in Ecommerce Adjusted EBIT
CAPE TOWN, South Africa--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Naspers Limited (Naspers) (JSE: NPN) delivered a strong performance during a transformative year, as we build the leading lifestyle ecommerce company in Latin America, Europe and India, driven by AI and innovation.
Ecommerce revenue growth of 21%, to US$7.0bn.
Adjusted EBIT increased 18 times to US$430m.
iFood aEBIT grew 178%, OLX aEBIT up 61% and eMAG achieved profitability.
Free cash flow improved by US$263m, excluding Tencent.
US$7.8bn 1 invested to strengthen our regional ecosystems and expand our portfolio of AI-native startups.
Buybacks returned over US$50bn 2, driving 15% NAV per share accretion.
Fabricio Bloisi, Group CEO, Prosus and Naspers said: 'Naspers is rapidly transforming into an operating technology company, focused on lifestyle ecommerce, and powered by innovation and collaboration. This past year, we announced two significant deals to strengthen our regional ecosystems. We completed the acquisition of Despegar in May 2025 and are already integrating its products into iFood's Clube membership. We are making good progress with the purchase of Just Eat Takeaway.com, which will create a new AI-powered tech champion in Europe.
'I believe that truly great companies are shaped by their culture. Through 'The Prosus Way', we've implemented a cultural model that empowers our teams to deliver exceptional customer experiences through discipline, innovation and adopting an AI-first mindset. In the face of unprecedented technological disruption, we are now more connected and innovative than ever before. I'm confident that our enhanced culture and ecosystem approach will fuel our journey to create the next US$100bn in value.'
Nico Marais, Group CFO, Prosus and Naspers, commented: 'The Group has delivered a strong financial performance over the past year, with topline growth in our operating businesses at double the rate of our peers. Ecommerce profitability has improved meaningfully from US$24m in FY24, to aEBIT of US$430m. We expect this momentum to continue, and to add at least the same level of incremental aEBIT in FY26. Free cash flow excluding the Tencent dividend improved by US$263m. As our financial position strengthens, we're able to share more with our shareholders, and have proposed a 100% increase in the Prosus dividend, to €0.20. The Group's disciplined capital allocation and strong balance sheet positions us well to execute on our ecosystem strategy.'
Phuthi Mahanyele-Dabengwa, South Africa CEO and Executive Director, Naspers, commented: 'Our South African businesses have delivered strong results while making everyday life simpler, more connected, and more accessible. I'm proud of the progress we've made in building digital platforms that meet local needs, support small businesses, and create new digital career pathways. This is evident in the continued growth of the Takealot Group, which has grown GMV 26-fold over the past nine years to become South Africa's leading ecommerce platform. It's also evident in our two leading classifieds platforms — Property24 and AutoTrader — which continue to serve millions of users with trusted, market-leading services. As South Africa continues its journey of economic renewal, Naspers remains a committed long-term partner in building a more inclusive, innovative digital economy.'
Peer-leading growth and accelerating profitability across Ecommerce portfolio
Food Delivery: iFood delivers world-class performance, exceeding growth and profitability targets and drives innovation and ecosystem expansion
iFood delivered strong top line growth, with Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) up 32%, orders up 29% and revenue increasing 30%.
iFood's core food delivery business grew aEBIT by 71% to US$306m, improving aEBIT margin to 27%; performance driven by higher ad revenues, increased order frequency and retention driven by iFood's Clube loyalty programme, and investments in its merchant platform.
iFood's growth initiatives grew revenue by 34%, driven by strong performance in its groceries marketplace and credit businesses.
Overall, iFood achieved a record profit, with aEBIT of US$226m, up 178%.
Delivery Hero grew GMV by 8% for FY24, with revenue up 24%, boosting profitability to an adjusted EBITDA of €693m (from €254m in FY23).
From January to December 2024, Swiggy grew Gross Order Value (GOV) by 29%, while adjusted EBITDA losses reduced to US$182m, from US$261m in the prior year.
In Q125, Swiggy delivered GOV growth of 40% year-on-year, and quick commerce GOV growth of 101% year-on-year, with 316 new dark stores added in the quarter.
3
All growth percentages shown here are in local currency terms, excluding the impact of acquisitions and disposals (M&A), unless otherwise stated.
4
Nominal basis
Expand
Classifieds – OLX Group: Strong performance, with a significant jump in profitability and expanding margins
OLX consolidated revenue grew 18%, with standout performances by motors and real estate verticals.
Motors and real estate grew revenue 24% and 23% respectively, through improved monetisation, innovative product development and new trust-building initiatives within motors, and product enhancements within real estate.
aEBIT accelerated by 61% to US$270m, with aEBIT margin up 10pp, to 35%.
Payments & Fintech – PayU: Strong topline growth and improving profitability, despite challenging market conditions
India payments TPV 5 increased by 17%, and revenues by 14%; aEBIT loss of US$12m reflects increased competition, resulting in lower take rates.
India payments achieved breakeven in H2.
India credit grew its loan book by 19% and revenues by 63%; aEBIT loss of US$32m impacted by higher costs and increased consumer loan book losses.
Iyzico grew revenues 87% to US$288m, while aEBIT of US$18m at a margin of 6% reflected rising interest rates and investments in strategic growth initiatives.
GPO revenues up 23% to US$340m, with aEBIT of US$12m; sale of GPO's LatAm and Africa operations completed in March 2025, while GPO Europe sale is ongoing.
Overall, PayU's aEBIT losses improved by >100% to US$11m.
Etail: eMAG achieved overall profitability target for FY25 and Takealot grew strongly, cementing its leadership position through innovation and customer focus.
eMAG grew strongly with GMV up 9%, and revenue up 12% to US$2.5bn.
eMAG aEBIT improved by US$40m to US$14m; includes one-off costs in Hungary in H1.
eMAG improved performance due to good growth in Romanian etail, and emerging logistics and grocery businesses.
Takealot Group grew GMV by 13% and revenue by 15%, driven by investments in logistics, enhanced customer offerings and the TakealotMore subscription service.
Takealot.com: orders increased 15%, GMV up 13% and revenues grew 17%, with growth underpinned by expansion in emerging product categories.
Mr D: Revenue grew 8%, with an 81% increase in groceries GMV and an improved aEBIT of US$4m, despite tough trading conditions.
Please note: Group results are shown on a consolidated basis from continuing operations, which reflect all majority owned and managed businesses. All OLX Autos business units are classified as discontinued operations, in line with IFRS disclosures. All growth percentages shown here are in local currency terms, excluding the impact of acquisitions and disposals (M&A), unless otherwise stated. Growth percentages shown here for all non-financial key performance indicators compare FY25 to FY24.
Expand
For full details of the Group's results, please visit www.naspers.com.
5 Total Payment Volume
Expand
About Naspers
Established in 1915, Naspers has transformed itself to become a global technology company and one of the largest technology investors in the world. Through Prosus, the group is building the world's leading lifestyle ecommerce brands, across Europe, India and Latin America, unlocking an AI-first world for our 2 billion customers. Prosus has its primary listing on Euronext Amsterdam, and a secondary listing on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange and Naspers is the majority owner of Prosus.
In South Africa, Naspers is one of the foremost investors in the technology sector and is committed to building its internet and ecommerce companies. These include Takealot, Mr D Food, Autotrader, Property24 and PayU, in addition to Media24, South Africa's leading print and digital media business.
Naspers has a primary listing on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (NPN.SJ) and a secondary listing on the A2X Exchange (NPN.AJ) in South Africa and a level 1 American Depository Receipt (ADR) programme which trades on an over-the-counter basis in the US.
For more information, please visit www.naspers.com.
Naspers Labs
In 2019, Naspers Labs, a youth development programme designed to transform and launch South Africa's unemployed youth into economic activity, was launched. Naspers Labs focuses on digital skills and training, enabling young people to pursue tech careers.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Forbes
31 minutes ago
- Forbes
Integrating AI Into Your Small Business
Kathleen Hurley is the founder of Sage Inc., a tech company that offers SMB businesses infrastructure solutions and next-gen technology. Understanding that AI will be part of the equation for a successful business going forward, you may wonder where to begin implementing AI into your small business. It seems like an enormous task, particularly for organizations that are often lean and operating with staff models that are close to their performance requirements. Getting started with AI doesn't need to be a huge undertaking for a smaller firm, but there are considerations before incorporating an AI platform into your day-to-day operations. For instance, ensuring that security is set up correctly so that the AI only sees what it should see is crucial. This is often referred to as the walled garden, reflecting that the AI is given room to roam within its own environment but walled off from things it shouldn't be interacting with. The walls are put up around secured information or data that hasn't been reviewed, allowing the AI to ingest or train on information that has been vetted and approved. Is this important for a small business where data security is often not the top priority? Yes. The data security of a smaller organization is still essential, particularly when AI can make data visible to users if it's not adequately secured. Imagine HR data improperly displayed as the result of an inquiry because it's left inside the walls when you didn't mean for it to be. This is the type of query result you want to control simply by removing the data that could result in an answer you don't intend. When considering your security, you can also think about your overall AI strategy within the organization. Designing your AI strategic plan is a great way to start your journey, even if you aren't entirely sure what your strategy is yet. The First Steps Of An AI Strategy The reason many companies fail to put a strategic plan into place is that they are unsure of the tactics, or platforms, they plan to implement. But that shouldn't stop them! They are still aware of their feelings about bias and ethics, their concerns about spending and platform approvals, the process that data transmission approval should go through and the different approaches that users can take when they want to test out a new platform. Requirements for agents and platforms, such as security and data privacy requirements, can be stated if they are not called out in other vendor platform requirements and policies. Some approaches involve AI innovation teams who can be responsible for the whole engagement in the organization, or there can be a single point of contact for the AI strategy. This is the base of solid, simple rules that the company needs in order to proceed carefully and safely in the AI environment, respecting the company's needs for security and data privacy. Finally, consider testing different applications in various groups within the company. AI note-taking is a great way to start, as it is simple to implement and generally has a very intuitive interface that all users can understand and benefit from. Anyone who attends many meetings can appreciate not having to take notes! ChatGPT and other Gen AI tools are likely in use in many organizations—regardless of size—and implementing a policy will help surface their use cases and enable a firm to understand how they are being utilized. Gen AI tools are great ways for users who are skilled at prompt engineering to take advantage of AI. For those who are not natively comfortable with writing prompts, offering training on prompt engineering is a good way to initiate the process of integrating Gen AI into a small business environment. Harnessing internal resources, such as having a power user on staff or bringing in an outside resource, are both great ways to get started with prompt engineering. Integrated tool packages, such as Copilot, are also excellent solutions for small businesses, as they significantly streamline the implementation process and can help smaller organizations improve their return on investment. It's essential to implement the strategic plan before releasing the package, as well as security measures since even Copilot has the same security pitfalls as other solutions. What Works For You There is no one-size-fits-all solution for small businesses when it comes to AI, and there is no perfect one tool that will do everything perfectly and solve all problems at once. However, there are steps you can take to implement AI that will make you more structurally sound and ready to embrace the new technology, no matter the size of your organization. Forbes Technology Council is an invitation-only community for world-class CIOs, CTOs and technology executives. Do I qualify?


Forbes
41 minutes ago
- Forbes
The Services Industry Is Moving From Relocation To Reinvention
The Services Industry Is Moving From Relocation To Reinvention For three decades, the services industry has thrived on a powerful idea: move work from high-cost to low-cost locations. It's been the backbone of our global services model – generating value through labor arbitrage. That era, while not over, is no longer where the most transformative value will be created. We are now entering a new chapter; one centered not on where work is done but on how it is done. Relocation: A Proven but Maturing Strategy Let's start with where we've been. The relocation model has been enormously successful. Whether executed via third-party service providers or Global In-house Centers (GICs), companies achieved 20–25% cost savings by moving work offshore to locations such as India, the Philippines, and Latin America. This model brought its own operational challenges – requiring new communication approaches, process rigor, and hybrid onshore-offshore delivery models – but over the past 30 years, the industry has absorbed these changes. Today, relocation is a mature, well-understood lever embedded in the operating fabric of nearly every global enterprise. Yet, while relocation reduced costs, it rarely altered how work was fundamentally performed. The processes remained largely intact – only the location of execution changed. Reinvention: A Shift in the Center of Gravity With the advent of AI and increasingly capable automation tools, we stand at the edge of a far more transformative shift. The center of gravity in services is moving from relocation to reinvention. To be clear, relocation isn't going away. Companies will continue to leverage global talent pools. But the differentiating value – the real innovation – will come from rethinking and redesigning how work is done. AI gives us the ability to fundamentally reshape both our business functions and processes. AI Enables Three Layers of Change AI can be categorized by its type or by the intent behind its use. When it comes to business models and services, we find it most useful to focus on intent – what you're trying to achieve with AI. At Everest Group, we see AI impacting enterprise services in three distinct ways: It's this third category, Systems of Execution, that signals the pivot from augmentation to automation. From evolution to reinvention. Reinvention Will Redefine Services Firms will be doing all three categories. Most firms have their employees and associates already using ChatGPT and other tools. As more tools become available, it's inevitable that employees will adopt them. And so, most firms are seeking to both govern that use and encourage it, because we want people to be more productive and more effective. Firms are also seeking to add AI into their own tech stack, if only by looking at what vendors are offering. In addition to that, companies are looking to add AI themselves, in a bespoke way, whether to enhance vendor systems or their own homegrown solutions. Over the next 10 years, we believe companies will be forced into reinventing how they work. Legacy processes, previously moved offshore, will now be re-engineered to run through AI-led execution layers. In many cases, the location of work will become less relevant, as machines are cheaper and more consistent than even the most cost-efficient labor markets. And as work becomes more digitized, proximity and integration with the business will grow in importance. Reinvention will require not just new tools, but new relationships within the business. Why This Shift Will Be More Challenging Than Relocation Relocation, for all its operational complexity, didn't challenge the core operating assumptions of the enterprise. Reinvention does. It requires a top-down commitment to rethink how work gets done, often by the very people whose roles may be transformed or replaced. That's a difficult conversation. People can't imagine a world in which they don't have a role in it. It requires significant senior executive commitment and push-through to do that. It's far easier to augment current teams or embed AI into existing tech than to reimagine entire workflows. But if we are to realize the full value of AI, this is the work ahead. We must also recognize that this is not a 'Big Bang' transformation. Reinvention will happen process by process, use case by use case, sliced into thin, manageable initiatives. This modular approach is essential for scale and sustainability. Yet, it remains a complex and deeply strategic endeavor. Unlike past transformations, reinvention cuts across the technical, operational, organizational, and human layers of the enterprise. It challenges not just what we do, but how we think about doing it. The Next Generations of Enterprise Services We believe this pivot to reinvention will take 10 to 20 years to fully mature, mirroring the timeline we saw with global delivery and relocation. But the direction is clear. Reinvention will define the next generations of enterprise services. Organizations will need to think about this shift that is about to happen – from a focus on relocation to a focus on reinvention. It took us 30 years to get to maturity with relocation, and it certainly seems less risky. Organizations could do the same thing but do it cheaper in a remote location. Reinvention inherently is more painful because it requires us to rethink how we do business. However, AI tools are getting better every day. It's almost mind-boggling how fast they're improving. So, it doesn't mean we can't make significant progress today as we lay down these new Systems of Execution. And this journey doesn't mean replacing existing systems wholesale. SAP, Oracle, and Salesforce aren't going away. Instead, AI-driven Systems of Execution will increasingly sit atop these foundational platforms, managing, coordinating, and optimizing the work itself. In many cases, we believe we'll ultimately achieve 80% or more people replacement – which is remarkable. While that level won't be reached overnight, the journey toward it has already begun.


Bloomberg
41 minutes ago
- Bloomberg
Billionaire Hoffman Backs Brain Startup Using AI, Ultrasound
By Ike Swetlitz and Save LinkedIn Corp. co-founder Reid Hoffman is leading a $12 million funding round for Sanmai Technologies and joining the board of the startup, which aims to use ultrasound technology and artificial intelligence to improve human health. Hoffman's investment is part of an explosion of interest by tech billionaires in funding the frontiers of brain science. Earlier this year, Coinbase Inc. co-founder Fred Ehrsam unveiled a company building a take-home ultrasound helmet to treat diseases and aid wellbeing. And for years, the richest man in the world, Elon Musk, has been leading Neuralink, which aims to create brain implants that would eventually give people superhuman powers.