Cartrack CEO Zak Calisto.
Cartrack owner Karooooo has reported a 20% revenue increase in the second quarter despite the impact of the July unrest and the Covid-19 pandemic.
In the second quarter results, released on Friday, Karooooo said its revenue had grown to R659 million, up from R551 million in the second quarter of 2021. The company’s subscriber numbers also grew by 20% to 1 408 609.
Karoooo’s CEO Zak Calisto said the group closed some of its branches in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng during the unrest, but those have since reopened.
However, other companies were not so lucky.
“What we saw is a huge decline in sales in July and … a lot of specifically small businesses in Durban, that were already struggling with [Covid-19], closing down … some of them have closed forever,” said Calisto ahead of the company’s results presentation on Friday.
He explained that during the unrest, the amount of traffic on the roads declined “substantially”.
The Singapore-headquartered group reported the second quarter results together with its 2022 half year performance, which showed that its revenue increased by 18% to R1.2 billion, compared to R1.086 billion in the first half of 2021. Its subscription revenue increased by 16% to R1.2 billion, while its new subscribers increased by 111%, something the group said was mainly attributable to its increased investment in sales and marketing.
However, Karooooo’s profit slid by 12% in the first half of 2022 to R231 million and earnings per share declined by 13% to R7.37. Its headline earnings per share also decreased by 13% to R7.35. The performance excludes Initial Public Offering (IPO) costs.
Karooooo listed on the Nasdaq on 1 April and made its inward JSE listing on 21 April. The group said its total IPO costs amounted to R85 million.
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