Prosus: iFood already supplies a quarter of Despegar's Brazilian consumer revenue

Prosus wants customers to move between the companies it owns across Latin America. Its travel business Despegar has now quantified one result: roughly 26% of its net Brazilian consumer revenue comes from the iFood ecosystem, according to a presentation dated 23 September. That measures a sales channel gaining weight. It does not yet tell Prosus shareholders how much additional profit it earns.

Why Prosus owns both meals and travel

Prosus is a listed investment company owning digital businesses. In Brazil, iFood serves consumers, restaurants and retailers through delivery and payment services. Despegar sells flights, hotels and trips across Latin America, directly to travellers and through partners. Prosus brings them together in its regional ecosystem: an iFood loyalty member can discover a trip without Despegar necessarily having to recruit that customer from scratch.

Our article on iFood's investment programme described its ambition beyond meal delivery; our report on restaurant data showed the value and sensitivity of customer relationships. The Despegar presentation supplies a missing measurement: the connection already contributes a visible share of travel sales in Brazil.

A growing sales channel, not a cash synergy account

The 23 September presentation charts the share of Brazilian B2C net revenue attributed to the ecosystem: 2.5% in June 2025 and 25.6% in September 2026. The figures show a channel gaining scale, not a like-for-like increase in profit. The presentation also suggests iFood loyalty members buy a broader product mix, but it does not isolate the extra profit margin created by this partnership.

For FY26, Despegar presents $846m of revenue, $129m of EBITDA and $152m of free cash flow on a pro forma basis excluding, among other items, Koin and hyperinflation adjustments. EBITDA measures operating performance before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation; free cash flow is a different measure after certain expenses and cash movements. None of these figures relates solely to sales sourced from iFood. Multiplying $846m by 25.6% would therefore be wrong: the percentage applies to Brazilian B2C revenue, not all of Despegar's businesses and countries.

What this means for Prosus shareholders

In the table dated 24 September, Prosus presents Despegar at $1.7bn out of $154.5bn in gross assets, or about 1.1% by our calculation. iFood appears at $6.4bn. Despegar's figure is analyst consensus reproduced by Prosus; it is neither an observed sale price nor a certified accounting valuation. Those yardsticks show why the connection can matter strategically while remaining small next to Prosus's largest listed holdings.

The Opulion question is conversion, not sign-ups alone. If Despegar sells more trips to iFood customers while controlling promotions and acquisition costs, Prosus might monetise an existing customer base more efficiently. That is an inference to test once it discloses the extra margin, marketing spend and cash. For now, the presentation measures revenue flowing through the ecosystem, not net value created for the holding company.