Naspers will focus on organic growth in the year ahead, according to its chairman, Ton Vosloo, with the growth of mobile devices a particularly important technology trend.<\/p>\n
Vosloo, a former journalist and\u00a0MD of Naspers, was addressing his\u00a0board at the group’s 99th AGM on Friday (30 August).<\/p>\n
Naspers boasts a range of successful internet companies globally, including Mail.Ru Group, PriceCheck, Tencent, and Kalahari.com, along with local TV brands including Supersport, DStv, and MultiChoice.<\/p>\n
“With over one billion\u00a0smartphones now accounting for 20% of all mobile devices worldwide, internet use is shifting steadily\u00a0from PC to mobile and tablets,”\u00a0Vosloo said.<\/p>\n
“In some of our businesses, as much as a third of total traffic now stems\u00a0from mobile applications. While this trend disrupts existing business models, it also creates\u00a0opportunities for our talented engineers and committed people in some 130 countries around the\u00a0globe.”<\/p>\n
In June,\u00a0Naspers reported an earnings milestone in financial results\u00a0for the year ended March 2013,\u00a0generating consolidated revenue growth of 27% to break through\u00a0R50 billion.<\/p>\n
Shares in the group have continued to test record highs, adding more than R295 or 53% in the year to date period alone, giving Naspers a market cap of R415.82 billion.<\/p>\n
In afternoon trade on Friday (30 August), Naspers traded at R850.80, having reached a best of R876.43 on August 22.<\/p>\n
In line with strategy, Vosloo noted that Naspers increased its development spend to R4.3 billion (up from R2.8 billion in 2012).<\/p>\n
“We are\u00a0aiming at growing our e-commerce businesses and rolling out digital terrestrial pay-TV services across\u00a0sub-Saharan Africa.”<\/p>\n
Looking ahead, Vosloo said that while group strategy is\u00a0continually refined, three legs are unchanged: organic growth of existing businesses, a few acquisitions\u00a0that add value and developing new technologies.<\/p>\n
“In the year ahead, we will focus especially on growing our businesses organically. This will mute\u00a0earnings in the short term as the cost of developing these businesses is expensed through the income\u00a0statement.”<\/p>\n
Naspers revenue tops R50 billion<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n The biggest companies in South Africa<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Facebook lifts Naspers to record highs<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Naspers boss sitting on company stock goldmine<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n