The profits of Naspers have been rising in the three months to September this year, thanks to the media group’s overseas Internet operations and the weaker South African currency.

Overseas profits now outdo the profits the firm generates in South Africa and Internet businesses have exceeded pay-TV as the firm’s major operation.

Koos Bekker, the CEO of Naspers, confirmed that the make-up of the business has been altered in the past couple of years.

“We are busy building ecommerce platforms, in particular online classifieds, and are rolling out digital terrestrial television (DTT) across more cities in West and East Africa,” Bekker said.

Bekker made these comments as the firm posted interim core headline earnings that surged 16 percent to R12.48 a share from R4.1 billion ($406.3m) to R4,9 billion ($485.6m) in total.

This was achieved notwithstanding the fact that the firm had invested R3 billion ($297.3m) in fostering future growth prospects in the six months to September.

Core earnings from China’s Tencent and Russia’s Mail.ru surged 47 percent to R4.5 billion ($446m).

eCommerce profits almost doubled to R7.9 billion ($783m) during the  period under review.

Paul Theron, an equity analyst at Vestact, recently told business news network, CNBC Africa, Naspers had become a “success story.”

He said the firm was strategic enough in making bolt-on acquisitions earlier than most when it bought Mail.Ru and Tencent a couple of years back.

“I still believe the firm has lots of upside,” Theron said.

This year alone, Naspers’ stock price has surged almost 80 percent to R972, turning it into one of the most prized shares on the JSE.