Media and technology group Naspers remains deeply in the red, but has managed to halve its headline loss to R143 million in the six months to 30 September on the back of better revenue and improved margins.
Chairman Ton Vosloo described the progress as "satisfactory" in the face of harsh conditions in the international technology, media and telecommunications environment.
Group revenue grew 26% to R5.4 billion, mainly due to the improving rand and steady growth in subscriber revenue. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) were up 137% to R455 million from R192 million previously.
A focus on cost control resulted in improved margins, with operating profits before amortisation and impairment charges amounting to R78 million, compared with a loss the previous year of R111 million.
Cash generated from continuing operations amounted to R407 million against a cash outflow of R206 million previously.
Naspers` technology division produced EBITDA of R3 million compared with a loss of R26 million previously, but sales are expected to slow down in the second half.
The group`s Internet interests showed the fastest growth, with revenue up 90% to R421 million. Operating losses were substantially lowered to R178 million from R304 million.
M-Web SA broke even on a monthly basis on its EBITDA, Bekker said. While the dial-up market remained relatively stagnant, it ended the period with 249 000 dial-up subscribers and 2 900 hosted clients.
He said the focus remained on cutting costs, reducing losses and driving hard to achieve profitability.
In Asia, the group reduced the cash burn across its Internet businesses. Some operations were curtailed to match revenues to costs. In Thailand, the group has 329 000 subscribers accessing its service, the majority on a prepaid basis. The instant-messaging service in China, QQ, continued to grow its mobile subscriber base.
Revenue from the print media division grew 7% to R1.1 billion, largely from increased advertising revenue from newspapers, said Naspers MD Koos Bekker. Circulation figures remained broadly stable and sales of the Daily Sun, launched in July, topped 60 000.
The Naspers share price was down 21c to R25.30 in mid-morning trade today.
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