Karooooo Limited, the mobility platform led by South African businessman Zak Calisto, has defied the odds and delivered an impressive financial performance despite challenging operating conditions.
Karooooo reported a significant increase in its profits, with a 27.7-percent rise in the 2023 fiscal year, which ended on Feb. 28, 2023.Â
The company’s profits rose from R476.6 million ($25.72 million) in 2022 to R608.8 million ($32.85 million), boosted by more substantial subscription revenue growth and robust margin expansion in both gross profit and operating profit.
The outstanding performance can be credited to the implementation of efficient supply chain management and better control measures, as well as decreased fuel, maintenance, and other costs related to the fleet and mobility.
The company’s core mobility platform, Cartrack, played a significant role in the double-digit surge in subscription revenue, which drove the group’s revenue up by 28 percent from R2.74 billion ($147.8 million) to R3.5 billion ($188.8 million).
The total number of subscribers to the Cartrack platform increased by 13 percent, from 1.52 million in 2022 to 1.71 million.
Calisto praises financial results and credits success to mobility platform
Calisto, the CEO and founder of Karooooo, commended the financial results and stated that the financial year was more challenging than expected. Still, the group met its expectations for Cartrack.
He added that Karooooo’s mobility platform helped many customers to digitalize and optimize their operations, enabling the group to maintain minimal customer and industry concentration risk, further strengthening revenue and earnings.
Karooooo was founded by Calisto in 2001, focusing on stolen car recovery services in South Africa. Cartrack, a wholly-owned subsidiary that provides real-time mobility data analytics solutions for intelligent transportation, is now managed by the corporation.
Since its establishment, Karooooo has become a leading provider of intelligent transportation management and analytics, serving customers in 23 countries across five continents and supporting over 1.7 million users worldwide.
The company’s impressive financial performance has resulted in the expansion of its total assets from R3.08 billion ($166.2 million) in 2022 to R3.75 billion ($202.35 million), while its retained earnings increased from R1.27 billion ($68.5 million) to R1.56 billion ($84.18 million).
This financial success further cements its status as one of Africa’s most profitable tech companies.
