After 100 days in his role as CEO of Naspers and Prosus, Fabricio Bloisi has put artificial intelligence (AI) deployment at the core of his strategy.
Bloisi, who was appointed in May to replace Bob van Dijk, today sent a letter to shareholders, reflecting on his time in the role, to date.
The letter covers progress on AI, recent operating milestones, as well as updates to the Prosus portfolio.
“I am 100 days into my role as CEO of Prosus and Naspers, and I am even more excited about the prospects for our company,” says Bloisi.
“Today, Prosus is worth around $100 billion, and I am focused on how we can create another $100 billion of value in the Prosus ecosystem by building and investing in fast-growing and profitable businesses. I am also focused on how that will generate real returns for our shareholders.”
Bloisi says he has spent most of the last three months with the businesses to understand how they can grow faster, be more profitable and how the businesses can work together more closely.
“The experience has been amazing, and I am increasingly confident we will achieve our goals,” he says.
“We have implemented a new management model and introduced new rituals to ensure our employees are informed and engaged. The group is moving faster, innovating and developing greater connectivity within the Prosus ecosystem. We have accomplished a lot in a short period across our operations and portfolio, highlighting value and amplifying our businesses through AI.”
On his “deploying AI everywhere” strategy, Bloisi states Naspers and Prosus will continue to integrate AI across the business.
“You have seen examples of this from the iFood and OLX case studies on our website. You will continue to see more as we increasingly deploy AI to amplify our results.”
Sleeker operations
He adds that Prosus has streamlined the structure of eMAG and committed the business to full-year profitability this year.
Founded in 2001, eMAG is an online commerce platform in Romania, Hungary and Bulgaria. It generated more than $2.6 billion in gross merchandise value, servicing more than eight million customers across the region in the past year.
Bloisi adds that Brazilian online food ordering and food delivery platform iFood hit 100 million orders per month for the first time.
“I am incredibly proud of the iFood team for hitting this milestone and I have rewarded them with a new goal of 200 million orders per month.”
He points out that the group sold its stake in Trip.com for $1.5 billion. “We will continue to manage our portfolio actively, as we look to maximise and unlock more value for our shareholders.
“We sold Superbalist and put Takealot in position for sustained growth, enabling it to concentrate its efforts to further expand Takealot.com and Mr D. Additionally, we implemented a new management model that will help Takealot to move faster, sharpen its focus and deliver superior services in South Africa.”
He notes that Swiggy, an Indian online food ordering and delivery company, this week announced its intent for an initial public offering (IPO). Swiggy aims for a valuation of $11.7 billion to $12.7 billion in its upcoming IPO.
“Our early focus and investment in India are paying off and we are excited to see the potential for Swiggy’s value to be clearly highlighted in the public domain. We have many more investments in India and will continue to invest there, as we remain very excited about the prospects for the country. I expect we will see more of our investments in India IPO in the coming 12 to 18 months.
The company has also signed an agreement to sell Tazz, a Romanian food delivery company owned by eMAG, to Wolt.
According to Bloisi, this move will enable eMAG to improve its core operations in e-tail and its priorities in grocery delivery and financial services.
E-commerce surge
“We have coupled improved operations and active portfolio management with improved results. Prosus just closed on the first half of our fiscal year, and I am happy to report that the business continues to grow strongly and profitably,” he notes.
“In the first half of the year, e-commerce revenue growth accelerated from fiscal 2024, generating about three times the adjusted earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) than it did in the entire year last year.
“In fiscal year 2024, the group improved its e-commerce adjusted EBIT by more than $400 million, and our intent is to keep that pace up this year and deliver $400 million in adjusted EBIT from our e-commerce operations. I do not expect this pace of improvement to slow down next year either.
“It is critical that our core e-commerce business becomes a bigger source of profitability and free cash flow for the group.”
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