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Fintech group Lesaka Technologies returned to profitability in the year to
end-June, helped by a strong performance by its consumer business.
The consumer segment has been a drag on the group in recent years, with the
merchant side carrying earnings, but CEO Lincoln Mali’s investment in the
consumer unit is now bearing fruit, reporting a 78% increase in earnings over
the period.
Mali told Business Day the focus is to now scale the fintech platform built since he took the helm in May 2021.
“After 16 consecutive quarters of meeting our guidance over a four-year
period, there’s a lot of pride in our teams and a lot of gratitude to our
customers. But now is the opportunity to scale. We’ve built the platform,
which hasn’t been easy, but now it’s time to go to greater heights,” he said.
The merchant business has been unable to keep pace with its former glory,
however.
“Merchant had a year of building and integration. Though the financial
outcome reflects our volumes grew across card, cash and digital products, our
task in financial year 2027 is to convert that volume into value,” Mali
explained. The former banker is positive that plans put in place to rightsize the unit are already showing positive results.
The group said on Thursday that full-year revenue rose 1.7% year on year to R12.181bn, while net revenue was up 20% to R6.325bn. Adjusted earnings shot up more than threefold to R539m, up 229%.
The company has until recently consisted of two divisions: a merchant unit
and a consumer segment. The consumer unit focuses on products such as
unsecured credit, transactional banking, micro-insurance; and value-added
services through the EasyPay platform. After the acquisition of prepaid
electricity submetering and payments business Recharger, the group now has
a third division: enterprise.
The merchant unit reported a 10% decline in revenue to R8.61bn, while net
revenue was up 3% to R3.096bn. Segment-adjusted ebitda fell 6% to R602m.
The picture was more positive in the other two business units. Consumer
revenue rose 38% to R2.402bn, with segment-adjusted ebitda up 78% to
R775m.
The enterprise unit reported 62% growth in revenue to R1.256bn, while net
revenue was up 40% to R913m. The segment-adjusted ebitda soared 474% to
R136m.
“This was a record year for our consumer division, with robust customer
acquisition and cross-sell results driving profitability. Enterprise has become
a genuine contributor, delivering on its potential with strong revenue and profitability growth,” said Mali.
During the year, the group also repositioned its 10 operating brands,
including Kazang and Adumo, under the Lesaka name as part of a broader
integration effort to operate the various businesses acquired as one entity.
The Nasdaq- and JSE-listed group expects full-year adjusted earnings per
share for 2027 to be 15%-31% higher.
Lesaka shares ended the day down 1.03% at R75.19, giving the company a
market value of about R6bn.
Source: https://www.businessday.co.za/companies/2026-09-11-lesaka-back-in-the-black-thanks-to-consumer-unit/
