Naspers and Prosus step up efforts to shrink net asset value discount

27. Aug 2026

(AWP Alliance News) - Naspers Ltd and its technology unit Prosus NV said on Thursday they remained focused on narrowing the gap between their market value and the sum of their parts, signalling that share buybacks will continue.

The two companies reiterated their commitment to tackle the discount to their net asset value at annual general meetings of their respective shareholders on Thursday.

Naspers and Prosus have been attempting to narrow this discount since they launched share buybacks in June 2022.

Despite buybacks, the combined discount stayed at around 43%. The discount peaked at around 65% before the share buyback programmes in 2022.

"We recognise this has not yet delivered the narrowing shareholders are looking for, and closing this gap is a strategic board priority in FY27," Prosus and Naspers said in separate statements on Thursday.

For the financial year that ended March 31, Prosus repurchased 134.8 million shares for USD7.3 billion, which was funded from a combination of the sale of 95.6 million Tencent shares for USD6.5 billion, and its cash obtained from disposal proceeds of non-strategic investments.

Naspers repurchased 49.8 million shares for USD3.0 billion. This transaction was funded by the disposal of 52.6 million Prosus shares, amounting to USD3.0 billion.

From June 2022 to March 31, 2026, Prosus has repurchased 939.9 million of its own shares, valued at USD32.8 billion, resulting in an incremental accretion of 16% in NAV per share. Over this period, Naspers had sold 365.2 million Prosus shares and repurchased 323.4 million of its own shares for USD12.1 billion.

Prosus sells a portion of its stake in Hong Kong-listed investee Tencent Holdings Ltd, and then use the proceeds from the sale to purchase shares in Prosus. Naspers sells Prosus shares, and use the money to buy back its own shares.

Shares in Prosus were up 0.3% to ZAR706.32 on Thursday afternoon in Johannesburg. They were down 0.1% to EUR37.98 in Amsterdam. Naspers shares rose 1.5% to ZAR776.71 in Johannesburg.

By Artwell Dlamini, Alliance News senior reporter South Africa

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