Multichoice Owner Naspers Posts Huge Profit

South African media giant Naspers has seen its annual profits soar by 61%, mainly thanks to its investments in China and Russia and a strong performance by its PayTV division. With sales up 18% to around US$4.6bn, the Cape Town-based company reported $758m net income.

Around two-thirds of Naspers’ revenues comes from its Pan-African PayTV business Multichoice. Latest figures give that business 3.5 million subscribers in South Africa (up 637,000 year on year) and 1.4m in the rest of Sub-Saharan Africa (up 340,000 year on year). Looking ahead, Naspers says it will focus on growing existing businesses because internet-company valuations “have become inflated and good value is hard to find.”