AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Prosus NV PRX.AS, the giant investor in online classifieds, food delivery, and payments, expects to report 16.9-22.7% growth in earnings per share for the six months to the end of September, it said on Monday. The company’s forecast comes a week before it is due to report earnings on Nov. 23. In a statement the company said it faced challenges due to the coronavirus pandemic “particularly in countries where government lockdown regulations were wide ranging and long lasting.” “However, we have seen a sharp recovery in all of our impacted businesses ... once lockdown regulations began easing,” the company said in a statement. It forecast an increase of $0.26 to $0.35 over the $1.54 in earnings per share it registered in the same six months of 2019. Shares in Amsterdam were down 0.5% at 88.34 euros ($104.56) at 1607 GMT. Prosus is controlled by Naspers NPNJn.J of South Africa and owns a 31% stake in Chinese software giant Tencent 0700.HK.