Naspers profit increase expected

Naspers would probably post up to a 20 percent increase in underlying profit, the e-commerce and media company said on Friday. It gave no reason for the expected rise. The company said in a statement it expected core headline profit for the six months to September to rise by 10 percent to 20 percent from 921c a share a year earlier. Core headline profit excludes one-time items. Earnings a share, which includes one-time items, will likely rise by as much as 120 percent, after Russian affiliate Mail.ru sold some of its Facebook shares. Naspers owns 29 percent in Mail.ru. The company had said in June that heavy spending to drive organic growth would keep profit flat this year after it reported a 15 percent jump in profit for the year to March. Naspers stock slid 0.18 percent to R544 on Friday. – Reuters