Prosus sees earnings double on ecommerce, Tencent gains

Prosus NV expects its earnings per share (EPS) from continued operations increased between 91% and 100% for the fiscal year ending in March 2025, driven by strong ecommerce and Tencent gains.

The company’s ecommerce arm surpassed profit goals, with earnings projected to top US$435 million.

Key contributors included OLX, which saw adjusted earnings before interest and taxes rise over 50% to about US$270 million, while iFood more than doubled profits to US$200 million.

Prosus’ 24% stake in Tencent, which rose 24% in value this year, led to structural changes including partial stake sales.

The EPS outlook excludes Tencent share gains and impairments, while Prosus shares held steady at €47.38 (US$54.57) and are up 24% in 2025.

🔗 Source: Bloomberg

🧠 Food for thought

1️⃣ Prosus’s strategic shift reflects investment holding company evolution

Prosus’s transformation from a passive investment vehicle to an active e-commerce operator represents a broader evolution happening across investment holding companies globally.

Under new CEO Fabricio Bloisi (formerly of iFood), the company has achieved a remarkable turnaround in its e-commerce division, reporting a $38 million profit in 2025 compared to a $413 million loss just a year earlier 1.

This strategic pivot mirrors similar transformations at other investment holding companies like Japan’s SoftBank and Sweden’s Kinnevik, which have increasingly focused on operational improvements rather than just portfolio management.

The company’s success with OLX (growing EBIT by 50% to $270 million) and iFood (doubling profit to over $200 million) demonstrates how active management can unlock value in digital platforms within a holding structure.

This operational focus helps address the persistent “conglomerate discount” problem that has historically affected Prosus, where the market values the whole company less than the sum of its parts.

2️⃣ The Tencent relationship highlights concentrated position challenges

Prosus’s relationship with Tencent illustrates the double-edged sword of holding a massive stake in a single company, with Tencent representing approximately 80% of Prosus’s $177 billion net asset value 1.

This concentration has created significant structural challenges, leading Prosus to implement complex cross-holding arrangements and eventually begin strategically selling portions of its Tencent stake to fund share buybacks.