Latest news with #LesakaTechnologies
Zawya
28-05-2025
- Business
- Zawya
SmartSwitch Botswana brings financial inclusion to thousands of food grant recipients
SmartSwitch Botswana is blazing a trail for financial inclusion with a financial technology (Fintech) solution that puts dignity and financial services into food voucher beneficiaries' hands. Since it was established in 2006, Smart Switch has grown its footprint to more than 75 000 beneficiaries in underserved communities across Botswana. SmartSwitch Botswana, a subsidiary of Lesaka Technologies, was founded with the exclusive rights to deploy Botswana's Universal Electronic Payment System (UEPS). The UEPS has also been embraced and approved by the central banks of countries such as Namibia, Ghana, and South Africa as an accredited national payment system. At the heart of the offering is a secure, biometric-enabled smart card platform designed for the unbanked and underbanked. The system enables food grant recipients to safely receive, store, and spend funds at local merchant outlets while earning interest on unspent balances. The solution was developed in response to a Ministry of Local Government tender to overhaul Botswana's paper-based food basket system. The previous system—marked by inefficiencies, lack of choice, and social stigma—was failing the people it was meant to help. The tender had two main goals. Firstly, the Ministry of Local Government wanted to empower beneficiaries with choice in the food they acquired, when they could collect their food, and where they could collect their food. The second aim was to provide a dignified alternative to the stigma associated with the earlier system. 'Although we applied cutting-edge technology to the challenge, we also knew we needed to create a deeply human solution to address the audience's needs,' says France Mabiletsa, Managing Director of SmartSwitch Botswana. 'We had to provide beneficiaries with choice and restore their dignity.' Today, those goals have been exceeded. Beneficiaries no longer need to queue in the sun with wheelbarrows to collect pre-packaged goods. Beneficiaries receive a monthly allowance on a SmartSwitch card, which they can use at over 1,200 local shops, ranging from general dealers to corner stores. Each transaction is authenticated through biometric verification, ensuring security and privacy. The card looks like a bank-issued debit card, so it isn't apparent they are food allowance beneficiaries. In the first three years after implementation, more than 50,000 people, many of whom had never engaged with a financial institution, were integrated into Botswana's financial ecosystem. Today, over 75,000 beneficiaries have access to these smart banking tools, which include secure, offline-capable transactions via biometric-enabled POS devices The solution is equally transformative for merchants. Payments are settled within 48 hours, improving liquidity. Competition among stores has improved service quality, benefiting end users. 'The system has helped our business grow. We serve more customers, and we get paid quickly and securely,' said Kennete Mmusinyane of Obed Supermarket in Gumare in the Okavango District. With a track record of reliable delivery and innovation, SmartSwitch is gearing up for the next phase of its development. As the government prepares to issue a new tender, SmartSwitch has plans to introduce enhanced services and upgraded devices to further support beneficiaries and retailers. 'We're not standing still. We're reinvesting in the system to do more for more people,' says Mabiletsa. 'It is our aim to continue to be a trusted partner to the government, a reliable ally to merchants, and a gateway to dignity, choice, and empowerment for thousands of people in Botswana.' SmartSwitch is a member of Lesaka Technologies ( Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Kazang. About Kazang: Kazang ( is a leading provider of cash and digital solutions to merchants in Southern Africa's informal economies. Our fintech solutions include a diverse range of value-added services (VAS), card acquiring, secure cash vaults and supplier payments platforms. Operating with a network of approximately 90,000 active devices, we process approximately 2.2 million transactions daily in markets such as South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, and Zambia. We are dedicated to helping small and medium merchants grow and succeed, through increasing their sales, making their businesses more efficient and reducing their risks with our holistic portfolio of products and services. Kazang is a member of Lesaka Technologies ( About Lesaka Technologies, Inc: The Connect Group and Kazang was acquired by Lesaka Technologies, Inc. in April 2022. Lesaka Technologies, (Lesaka™) is a South African Fintech company that utilizes its proprietary banking and payment technologies to deliver superior financial services solutions to merchants (B2B) and consumers (B2C) in Southern Africa. Lesaka's mission is to drive true financial inclusion for both merchant and consumer markets through offering affordable financial services to previously underserved sectors of the economy. Lesaka offers cash management solutions, growth capital, card acquiring, bill payment technologies and value-added services to retail merchants as well as banking, lending, and insurance solutions to consumers across Southern Africa. Lesaka has a primary listing on NASDAQ (NasdaqGS: LSAK) and a secondary listing on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE: LSK). Visit for additional information about Lesaka Technologies (Lesaka ™). $LSK / $LSAK
Daily Maverick
11-05-2025
- Business
- Daily Maverick
From São Paulo to Soweto — how Prosus and Lesaka are defining growth on the JSE
Prosus and Lesaka present a tale of two tech companies and their differing approach to growth Growth stocks aren't very common on the JSE. This is unfortunately a function of the broader economic situation that we've been in for many years now, where South Africa just isn't a supportive environment for high-growth companies. And where they do exist, they often have offshore exposure as the major source of excitement! An example of this is Prosus-Naspers. Although it does own some South African businesses, that's not where the focus is for group investors. It's all about the opportunities in places such as China, India and South America. With Fabricio Bloisi at the helm, Prosus could be described as building a 'non-US' platform business that takes advantage of various different e-commerce models. Given the questions being asked at the moment about whether US exceptionalism is still a thing, that seems like an appealing strategy. All talk and no action doesn't cut it though, so shareholders are focusing on whether Prosus can transform from an incoherent group that was built with a spray-and-pray acquisition strategy into a sensible portfolio of profitable, successful businesses. So far, so good – in a letter to Prosus shareholders, Bloisi noted that the group expects to achieve more than $435-million (R7.9-billion) in adjusted earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) for the 2025 financial year, which is in excess of the target of $400-million (R7.3-billion). Within that growth story, there are pockets of particularly high growth, like OLX (adjusted EBIT up more than 50%) and iFood (adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation – EBITDA – more than doubled). There are also longer-term plays to help the group reach its target of 'many, many billions' rather than just millions when it comes to adjusted EBIT. India is perhaps the most interesting one on the table at the moment, with Prosus having invested in various platform businesses in the region. And of course, let's not forget the potential of Tencent in China. I have a long position in Prosus as I have really been enjoying the narrative coming from Bloisi since he joined the group. It's encouraging to see the delivery on promises thus far, supporting a share price increase of more than 30% in the past year. This has also been highly supportive of the local broad market index, as Naspers is the largest constituent of the Top 40 and Prosus is the sixth largest. Together, they contribute roughly 17.5% of the index. Although the underlying growth might not be happening in South Africa, local investors are certainly benefiting from it. It's wait-and-see for Lesaka Technologies Another example of a locally listed growth stock is Lesaka Technologies, best described as a multiproduct fintech group that is particularly focused on SMEs and micro-merchants. This group isn't just locally listed, it is also focused mainly on South Africa and the broader continent in its strategic thinking. Although this is exciting, it's also not easy. It doesn't have a cash cow in the form of Tencent, and it certainly doesn't enjoy the scale or fortress balance sheet of Prosus-Naspers. Lesaka has a great deal of debt and a need to scale at pace to get on the right side of that debt. This financial risk is an overhang for the share price, with Lesaka down nearly 19% in the past 12 months despite posting decent growth in the underlying businesses. South African investors aren't particularly in love with the concept of adjusted EBITDA and how this gets used by growth stocks to tell a story around a scaling platform that isn't able to generate net profits yet owing to its funding profile. In the latest quarter, Lesaka reported adjusted EBITDA of R237-million, up 29%. It also reported a headline loss of $22-million or R400-million (note the currency here), much worse than $4-million (R73-million) a year ago. Although it is projecting positive net income in 2026, the market is taking a wait-and-see approach on this one Debt pressures certainly aren't stopping Lesaka from investing for the future. It can't sit on its hands, as the group hasn't scaled to a level that is sustainable. This is why group capital expenditure as a percentage of group-adjusted EBITDA has been between 35% and 57% over the past year, most of which relates to point-of-sale devices and cash vaults. The market will keep a close eye on the trend in adjusted EBITDA margin, particularly as EBITDA is ultimately what services the debt. It doesn't help to invest heavily to support revenue growth unless that revenue turns into profits. In Lesaka's merchant division, net revenue was up 58% but adjusted EBITDA was up just 7%, so there's quite a lag there. The consumer division was thankfully the other way around in terms of margin trend, with revenue growth of 32% supporting EBITDA growth of 65%. Lifting our heads to the broader trend in the group is a worthwhile exercise. Through a combination of acquisitions and organic growth, Lesaka has scaled from revenue of R1.3-billion in the 2022 financial year to guided revenue of R5.2-billion–R5.6-billion in the current financial year. Group adjusted EBITDA has moved from a negative R328-million to guided positive earnings of R0.9-billion–R1-billion. The question is whether the incremental adjusted EBITDA margin is lucrative enough. Assuming it hits the upper end of FY25 guidance for the sake of the maths, it would have grown revenue by R4.3-billion and EBITDA by more than R1.3-billion from FY22–F25, which is an incremental adjusted EBITDA margin of 30%. As platform businesses go, that's not as exciting as one would hope. Fintech models don't always enjoy the highest margins, as much of their business is built around payments solutions that are hotbeds of competition among banking groups and other fintech companies. Lesaka will need to demonstrate to the market that it can achieve consistently strong EBITDA margins, all while scaling quickly enough to overcome the substantial net debt pile of R2.3-billion. Building a genuine market disrupter isn't easy. DM
Yahoo
08-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Lesaka Technologies: Fiscal Q3 Earnings Snapshot
ROSEBANK, South Africa (AP) — ROSEBANK, South Africa (AP) — Lesaka Technologies, Inc. (LSAK) on Wednesday reported a loss of $22.1 million in its fiscal third quarter. On a per-share basis, the Rosebank, South Africa-based company said it had a loss of 27 cents. Earnings, adjusted for non-recurring costs and stock option expense, came to 4 cents per share. The payments company posted revenue of $135.7 million in the period. _____ This story was generated by Automated Insights ( using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on LSAK at
Washington Post
07-05-2025
- Business
- Washington Post
Lesaka Technologies: Fiscal Q3 Earnings Snapshot
ROSEBANK, South Africa — ROSEBANK, South Africa — Lesaka Technologies, Inc. (LSAK) on Wednesday reported a loss of $22.1 million in its fiscal third quarter. On a per-share basis, the Rosebank, South Africa-based company said it had a loss of 27 cents. Earnings, adjusted for non-recurring costs and stock option expense, came to 4 cents per share.
Forbes
22-04-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Four Value Stock Picks From Two Top Managers For Q2 2025
Value stocks bounced in the second half of last year, and several experts are saying the day of value is returning. However, BlackRock is warning that investors might be underweight value stocks at a time when the markets could start shifting. Additionally, history has shown that savvy stock picking is a better way to gain access to value stocks rather than by tracking one of the value indexes. NEW YORK, NY - JANUARY 16: A sign hangs on the BlackRock offices on January 16, 2014 in New York ... More City. (Photo by) Here are four value stock picks from two leading managers as the second quarter goes into full swing. In a recent interview, Judson Traphagen of Plough Penny Partners chose Lesaka Technologies (NASDAQ:LSAK) and Veon (NASDAQ:VEON), which are trading at around $4.50 and $45 a share, respectively. Meanwhile, Alyx Wood of Kernow Asset Management selected Card Factory (LON:CARD) and Kistos (LON:KIST), which are trading at around GBX90 and GBX129 a share. Plough Penny Partners is a long-biased, fundamental growth fund that prefers to target holding periods of between three to five years. The fund typically holds a concentrated portfolio of 10 to 20 long positions with a handful of opportunistic shorts. Plough Penny specifically targets high-growth technology companies, investing globally in fintech, software and internet companies. Kernow Asset Management uses a long/ short equity strategy in search of contrarian alpha from U.K. equities. The firm pairs fundamental analysis with catalyst-driven mean reversion investments. Kernow seeks market inefficiencies and tries to determine how they work and how valuation gaps might be closed. Traphagen describes Lesaka as an under-the-radar small-cap fintech company undergoing secular growth and in the early stages of a multi-year trajectory. The company's business is largely in southern Africa. Comparing Lesaka to StoneCo and Nubank in Latin America, Traphagen believes it's perhaps the best way for U.S. investors to target Africa's largely untapped growth market for fintech. In the same way Square serves U.S. customers, Lesaka provides digital financial solutions to consumers and merchants in southern Africa. Traphagen was initially drawn to Lesaka Technologies because he's always seeking companies with great management, rapid revenue growth, and expanding margins that are operating in massive total addressable markets. He also seeks companies with solid unit economics and that have 'barely penetrated their target markets.' 'We have made money in emerging markets fintech stocks like Nubank and StoneCo in Latin America and had read that Africa was the next big market in fintech, so we looked for a stock to benefit from that trend,' Traphagen explained. 'LSAK is that stock.' In the short term, he believes Lesaka Technologies is worth $7.50 a share, but he suspects it might end up being a multi-bagger in the long term. Veon is a telecommunications company that operates in frontier markets, providing traditional telco services and newer digital products and services. In recent years, it has sped up its digital products and services and now generates a sizable share of its revenues from digital products and services. Like with Lesaka, Traphagen believes the opportunity in Veon exists because it's still largely unknown to U.S. investors, operating in markets that are essentially alien to U.S. investors, although it trades on the Nasdaq. Traphagen was initially attracted to Veon because of its valuation, but then he discovered its 'compelling' total addressable market and opportunity for digital products in an area where competition by U.S. technology companies is lacking. He also was attracted to Veon because the company is ambitiously de-levering, selling off non-core assets and repurchasing shares. Card Factory is a top greeting card retailer in the U.K. that also sells gifts, party supplies and related products. The company was founded based on the opportunity to sell greeting cards at much lower price points than competitors via a vertically integrated business model that includes manufacturing cards in-house. Interestingly, Wood was initially drawn to Card Factory as a potential short position during the COVID-19 pandemic. At the time, the company had high debt and was facing the possibility of bankruptcy. However, after Wood ran the fundamentals and conducted the people and strategy work, he found the company to be of higher quality than he had expected. 'This made it a long idea as soon as they started growing profits and the debt was cleared by cashflow,' Wood explained. 'The business is trading at a distressed price. This is at odds to the great balance sheet, and profits are set to double. It's a hidden quality growth stock. So we did more work and linked our trade journey to the partnerships, which are free growth centers.' Management expects to double their profits over the next three years, although Wood said the market is skeptical because of the seemingly untested partnerships and international expansion. However, he added that they're 'comfortable with being paid to take the risk for free.' Those partnerships are basically new places where Card Factory's cards are being sold on stands within stores rather than just on the High Street. Kistos is an independent, integrated energy company that has both upstream and midstream operations that span international markets. Wood was initially drawn to the stock by the 350% gap with their valuation in the Kernow Valuation Framework, which begins with valuing companies using their proprietary fundamental bottom-up process. He feels Kistos has a clear edge over other oil and gas companies because it extracts value from overlooked assets 'more efficiently than almost anyone else.' Wood estimates the company's intrinsic value at £350 million, although its market cap is only a mere £100 million currently. He said the company's production is set to almost double this year to 15,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, and the market is ignoring this potential. According to BlackRock, growth stocks accounted for 37% of the S&P 500 as of the end of November, versus the historical average of 24%. This was due to the heavy favoritism assigned to growth stocks in the first half of 2024 as investors widely preferred mega-cap technology stocks. However, that high concentration could unintentionally leave many investor portfolios coming up short in the diversification department, meaning a greater chance of missing out on the upside from rallies in value stocks like the one that started in July 2024. Thus, investors might want to take a closer look at their portfolios to see where they stand in the value-versus-growth.
