E-Business
Valuation Worries Weigh on Rocket Internet
Shares in ecommerce investor Rocket Internet took another tumble on Thursday as concerns grew over the value of its portfolio and after a downgrade by the bank that worked on the company’s 2014 stock market debut.
Rocket and co-investor Kinnevik said a new fundraising at online emerging markets player Global Fashion Group (GFG) valued it at 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion), a third of the figure put on the business when it last raised funds in August.
That prompted questions about Rocket’s valuation of its other companies, which it bases on fundraising with third-party investors – a measure it calls “last portfolio value” (LPV) – rather than the net asset value (NAV) used by most funds.
Rocket valued its portfolio of start-ups at 6 billion euros at March 31, including 680 million for its 22.5 percent stake in GFG. That compares with Rocket’s market capitalization of 3.8 billion euros.
Other top Rocket companies, such as online food sites HelloFresh and Delivery Hero, are also seen by analysts as too richly valued.
“With weak business momentum, opaque funding structures and the rising risk of down rounds (reduced valuations) in portfolio companies we remain bearish on Rocket Internet,” said Neil Campling, technology analyst at Aviate Global.
On Thursday, Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BoAML), which advised on Rocket’s initial public offering (IPO) in October 2014, cut the stock to “underperform”, citing downgrades in its operating companies and a soft private equity funding market.
Kinnevik has long put more conservative valuations on firms it jointly holds with Rocket. On Wednesday, it cut its NAV figure for furniture site Home24, while lifting the number for other ecommerce businesses Westwing, Linio and Lazada.
However, Kinnevik’s valuations for Home24, Westwing and Linio are still well below those given by Rocket as of March 31.
Rocket pulled the listing of ingredients delivery firm HelloFresh last year after a dispute with Kinnevik over Rocket’s bullish valuation for the company, sources have told Reuters.
Nordea analyst Elias Porse said he expected Kinnevik, which owns a 13 percent stake in Rocket in addition to stakes in its start-ups, to eventually seek to part ways with the firm as Kinnevik shifts its investments into education, financial technology (fintech) and healthcare.
“It’s difficult to understand why they want to own shares in another investment company,” he said. “They want to be a larger owner in fewer assets, and that’s not in the scope of Rocket.”
Gartner predicts that by 2028, 75 percent of enterprise software engineers will use Artificial Intelligence (AI) code assistants, up from less than 10 percent, currently.
According to a Gartner poll of 598 global respondents conducted in the third quarter of 2023, 63 percent of organisations are now testing, deploying, or have previously implemented AI code assistants.
AI code assistants provide for more capabilities than only code development and completion, notes the research firm.
According to Gartner, the use of AI code assistants can lead to higher work satisfaction and retention, resulting in lower turnover costs.
Philip Walsh, senior principal analyst at Gartner, comments: “Software engineering leaders must determine ROI and build a business case as they scale their rollouts of AI code assistants.
“However, traditional ROI frameworks steer engineering leaders toward metrics centred on cost reduction. This narrow perspective fails to capture the full value of AI code assistants.”
Gartner notes that software engineering leaders must “reframe the ROI conversation from cost reduction to value generations”.
Walsh adds: “Calculating time savings on code generation is a good place to begin building a more robust value story. To convey the full enterprise value story for AI code assistants, software engineering leaders should connect value enablers to impacts, and then analyse the overall return to the organisation.”
National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) has said that the planned national ID card will be issued to applicants by their banks.
NIMC said it is working with the Nigerian Interbank Settlement System (NIBSS) to deliver the cards to applicants.
“The card will be issued through the applicants’ respective banks in line with existing protocols with the issuance of the Debit/Credit cards,” the agency said at the weekend update on its official X handle.
KEY FACTS ABOUT THE PROPOSED NEW GENERAL MULTIPURPOSE NATIONAL IDENTITY CARD
- The new National ID Card is a single, convenient, and General multipurpose card (GMPC) , eliminating the need for multiple cards—not three.
- The single GMPC has multiple use cases:…
— NIMC (@nimc_ng) April 12, 2024
It said applicants need to request their cards with their NIN “through the self-service online portal, NIMC offices, or their respective banks”.
“The card will be powered by the AFRIGO card scheme, an indigenous scheme powered by NIBSS,” NIMC said.
“The card can be picked up by holders at the designated center or delivered to the applicants at the requested location at an extra cost to be borne by the applicants,” the update read.
National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) has said that the new national Identity card, powered by AfriGo Card, is a single card with multiple services.
NIMC made the clarification against the confusion and criticisms that have trailed the AfriGo Card , touted as a National Domestic Card Scheme.
NIMC is launching the AfriGo Card, in collaboration with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Nigeria Inter-bank Settlement System (NIBSS), and has had appointed SecureID, a Lagos headquartered company to manufacture the Card Scheme
Making clarification on the card, Kayode Adegoke, head of Corporate Communications of the NIMC, said the General multipurpose card (GMPC) will eliminate the need for multiple cards.
“The new National ID Card is a single, convenient, and General multi-purpose card (GMPC), eliminating the need for multiple cards—not three.
“The single GMPC has multiple use cases: Payments/Financial, Government intervention/services, travel, etc.
“The National Identity Management Commission is working with the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Nigerian Interbank Settlement System to deliver the payment and financial use cases.
“The card will be powered by the AFRIGO card scheme, an indigenous scheme powered by NIBSS. Applicants for the card will have to request with their NIN through the self-service online portal, NIMC offices, or their respective banks.
“The card will be issued through the applicants’ respective banks, in line with existing protocols with the issuance of the Debit/Credit cards.
“The card can be picked up by holders at the designated centre or delivered to the applicants at the requested location at an extra cost to be borne by the applicants,” he said.
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