Prosus reported a 57% increase in revenue to $9.7 billion in the year to end March 2026 after several big new investments and acquisitions since Fabricio Bloisi took over as chief executive – but also reported a 180-degree turnaround from an operating profit in the previous financial year to an operating loss.
Only its investment in Tencent and dividends from this investment helped Prosus and holding company Naspers to post profits.
The income statement discloses an operating loss of $173 million compared to a profit of – coincidentally – $173 million.
Read: Prosus profit jumps as bets on e-commerce businesses pay off
It is Prosus’s share of equity-accounted profits related to its investment in Tencent – which increased from $5.7 billion to nearly $6.9 billion – that helped the diverse consumer-focused tech giant to write up a net profit of $11.65 billion for the year. This was a bit lower than the $12.4 billion in the previous financial year.
One must however take into account that many of the new investments are not contributing at their full potential yet.
In the commentary to the results and during a presentation to shareholders, management draws attention to the positive aspects, and its preferred internal measurement of performance in the form of adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda).
Bloisi tells shareholders in the annual report: “Throughout this report, we highlight how we are delivering against our commitments. From financial guidance to the market to sustainability initiatives that effect change, Prosus is delivering.
“And we are just getting started.”
Strong numbers
Prosus says it delivered a strong set of results for the year, with revenue surging, profitability improving across its e-commerce operations and free cash flow reaching a record high as the technology investor accelerates its artificial intelligence (AI) strategy.
The group reported a 57% increase in ecosystem revenue to $9.7 billion, while adjusted Ebitda increased 84% to $1.3 billion.
Free cash flow reached a record $1.5 billion and core headline earnings per share increased 24%.
Prosus also increased its annual dividend by 40% to 28 cents a share after benefitting from higher dividend payments from Tencent.
The group completed $2 billion worth of non-core asset disposals during the year, while its ongoing share buyback programme has returned $46 billion to shareholders to date.
Bloisi says Prosus has transformed itself from a financial holding company into an AI-powered global technology operator over the past 18 months.
“At Prosus we are building something fundamentally different, an AI-powered Lifestyle Ecosystem that gets smarter and stronger with every interaction.
“Our AI capabilities are live, scaling and delivering real competitive advantage,” he says.
Its e-commerce businesses across Latin America, Europe and India all reported profits during the year, marking an important milestone for the group.
Chief financial officer Nico Marais says the results reflect disciplined execution and a focus on improving cash generation. “We delivered strong free cash flow, tripled our ecosystem adjusted Ebitda in two years, and achieved profitability across all three regional ecosystems.”
AI central to growth strategy
The group says AI has become central to its operations, with intelligent systems increasingly replacing traditional digital platforms.
Its new agentic AI platform, ToqanClaw, has already been rolled out to more than five million restaurant partners globally, while the company’s Large Commerce Model is being expanded beyond Latin America into Europe and India.
Bloisi says Prosus believes that AI assistants and commerce-focused language models will reshape how consumers access services. “Companies that lead on that are going to become the leaders of the future.”
Latin America
Latin America remained the group’s strongest-performing region, led by food delivery platform iFood.
“iFood expanded its market leadership, growing beyond food delivery, with loyalty, fintech and new categories all gaining meaningful traction,” according to the presentation of the annual results.
“Revenue grew 40% with adjusted Ebitda up 56% to $400 million. Core food delivery grew orders by 8% and gross merchandise value by 17%. iFood Pago scaled strongly, with revenue up 219% to $463 million, now accounting for approximately 25% of iFood total revenues.”
In Brazil, travel platform Despegar, acquired during the year, generated gross bookings of $5.9 billion and revenue of $804 million.
Prosus says the integration of iFood and Despegar is progressing well, with 21% of Despegar’s Brazilian business now coming from iFood customers.
Orders increased by 44%, with Brazil growing revenue at over 40%, outpacing the broader market.
In India, digital payments business PayU and other investments (Swiggy, Meesho, ixigo and Rapido) posted their first positive results at the adjusted Ebitda level.
A 28% increase in revenue at OLX and Just Eat Takeaway.com in Europe led to adjusted Ebitda growing 53% to $481million.
PayU achieved a significant milestone by reporting positive adjusted Ebitda for the first time. Revenue increased 13% to $781 million, while the business processed $90 billion in total payments during the year.
The European classifieds business OLX reported one of the strongest performances within the group.
Revenue increased 28% to $992 million while adjusted Ebitda increased 53% to $481 million, expanding margins to 48%. Its motors division grew revenue by 42%, while real estate revenue increased 26%.
Meanwhile, newly acquired Just Eat Takeaway.com contributed $1.9 billion in revenue during the six months following its acquisition. Prosus says pilot projects in selected cities have already resulted in order growth of up to 25% as the business undergoes operational changes.
Capital allocation
Bloisi says the focus remains on disciplined capital allocation. Prosus ended the year with more than $9.5 billion in cash and said it will continue recycling capital through additional disposals of non-core asset during the current financial year.
The group plans to continue investing in its existing ecosystems while allocating a further $5 billion to share buybacks.
Bloisi said the company’s long-term ambition remains unchanged. “Our ambition is to build the next $100 billion in value for Prosus by creating thriving regional lifestyle e-commerce ecosystems.”
For the 2027 financial year, the group said it expects to continue focusing on profitable growth, AI innovation and disciplined capital allocation as it seeks to expand its technology ecosystem.
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Read the full results here.
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