Prosus profits nearly double as its investments in e-commerce and Tencent stake yield positive results.

      For several years, Prosus essentially functioned as a singular investment disguised as a diversified investor: a vast portfolio whose worth fluctuated mainly due to a single Chinese asset. Its most recent results imply that this disguise is becoming its identity.

      Prosus announced a revenue of approximately $7.3 billion for the financial year ending 31 March 2026 and around $1.1 billion in what it now terms ecosystem adjusted EBITDA, the profit metric for its combined e-commerce ventures.

      The company reported that headline earnings per share from ongoing operations surged between 91% and 100% year-on-year, nearly doubling due to its own performance as well as improved results from its Tencent investment. These figures were released on 29 June.

      While the doubling of earnings is the main headline, the more intriguing figure is the balance. Core headline earnings per share for continuing operations increased steadily by 19% to 28%, which reflects the real performance of the underlying businesses, excluding fluctuations from the Tencent stake. Both metrics indicate the same trend: the e-commerce division is now generating genuine profits rather than just forecasts.

      This division primarily focuses on food delivery and classifieds. Prosus owns iFood, the largest food delivery platform in Latin America, and OLX, the classifieds platform, both of which have driven the company's profitability turnaround.

      The company aims to create a $100 billion lifestyle e-commerce enterprise across Latin America, Europe, and India—intentionally quoting this figure while excluding Tencent to emphasize that the remaining portfolio can now operate independently.

      Fabricio Bloisi, the iFood founder who became Prosus's CEO, is behind this strategy and has adopted an aggressive, acquisition-driven, and AI-enhanced approach since assuming leadership.

      The most notable example of this strategy was the €4.1 billion acquisition of Just Eat Takeaway, one of the largest transactions in Dutch technology, which Bloisi framed as an effort to establish a European delivery leader alongside iFood’s strong presence in Latin America.

      Bloisi has also been active beyond delivery. Prosus led a €480 million funding round for the French health insurance startup Alan and has heavily invested in artificial intelligence as an operational framework across its businesses, recently introducing an in-house tool builder aimed at the millions of merchants using its platforms.

      The AI aspect is crucial to the earnings narrative. Prosus has linked its margin enhancements to automation within its combined businesses.

      However, Tencent continues to be a significant variable. The equity-accounted contribution from the Chinese company is substantial enough to impact Prosus's reported profits by several percentage points, which is why the company regularly presents the two earnings figures together: one reflects the performance of the businesses, while the other reflects China’s performance.

      The key question remains whether the profitability will be sustained as the company continues to invest. Bloisi’s strategy emphasizes growth through acquisitions, and integrating sizable businesses like Just Eat can be costly and complex.

      For at least one year, the e-commerce engine has proven profitable. The upcoming set of results will determine if this marks a pivotal change or merely a peak.