South Africa's Naspers forecasts lower first-half profit

Nov 18 (Reuters) - South Africa's e-commerce group Naspers Ltd on Monday forecast lower headline earnings per share (HEPS) for the first half, hurt by a big drop in gains on investments in China's Tencent.

Naspers said it expects HEPS to fall in the range of 45.6% to 53.6% for six months ended Sept. 30.

The company said in September that it would list its global empire of consumer internet assets under the name of Prosus , including a 31% stake in the Chinese tech titan.

Naspers expects $400 million of fair-value gains on investments held by Tencent, well below $1.4 billion recorded in 2018.

HEPS is the main profit measure for companies in South Africa that strips out certain one off items. (Reporting by Shanima A in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva)