Naspers up 3% to record high

Shares in media company Naspers (NPN) were trading at a new high of R431.75 on Thursday, up 3.25% from Wednesday’s close. A trader attributed this to better than expected results from one of the company’s subsidiaries in Hong Kong.

On Wednesday Chinese internet giant Tencent Holdings, in which Naspers holds a 30% stake, posted a 15.3% rise in fourth-quarter net profit on higher revenue from its core services such as social networking and online games.

“A lot of people are looking at that number – it did seem to surprise on the upside. It’s performing stronger than originally thought. Now through value to Naspers is obviously increasing and on the back of that is an increasing multiple value for Tencent.

“Guys have been pleasantly surprised by this and are also picking the stock up. A lot of the guys have also upgraded the share, target prices well in excess of 400 can be seen, and again this may just be an excuse for guys to pick some up. But it’s definitely Tencent’s result that was the catalyst,” the equities trader said.