Fintech group Capital Appreciation has increased its revenue by 10%, to R611.5 million, in the six months to 30 September.
The company today announced its interim financial results, saying it demonstrated satisfactory performance despite overall weak business confidence.
While revenue increased, Capital Appreciation’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) declined by 3%, to R113.8 million.
In a statement, the firm notes its two divisions attracted new clients and renewed long-term contracts, diversified their revenue sources and grew market share.
While Q1 2025 was affected by low business confidence, with organisations postponing major capital expenditure, the fintech group points out that Q2 2025 showed a marked improvement in sentiment, with a revitalised interest in the group’s products and services.
Capital Appreciation also continued to evolve its revenue mix with the introduction of new products and services, spread across more sectors and regions. This creates significant growth opportunities for the group in the future, says the company.
While the payments segment grew EBITDA by 17.8%, the group results were adversely impacted by underutilised capacity in software, it notes.
Earnings per share and headline earnings per share declined by 8.3% to 5.94c and 5.96c per share, respectively.
The group declared an interim dividend of 4.50c per share, an increase of 5.9%.
The payments division’s revenue grew by 18.5% and EBITDA by 17.8%, benefiting from robust terminal sales and rental income, up 26% and 70%, respectively.
The division also achieved good traction in its revenue diversification efforts, particularly the payments software-as-a-service initiatives, the firm adds.
It says at the beginning of Q2 2025, the payments division secured two important multi-year contracts. These have not significantly benefited the interim financial results, and will start contributing to earnings in H2 2025 and beyond, Capital Appreciation explains.
The software division’s top line increased by 2.4%, with the firm saying satisfactory revenue growth in South Africa of 9.7% was offset by an 18.6% decline in revenue from software’s international initiatives, as a significant long-term contract resourced from SA reached maturity.
“Consequently, the skilled labour capacity of the software division was underutilised, which affected profitability. Synthesis and Dariel continue to be recognised as trusted advisors in the software market, and they received numerous recognition and achievement awards,” says the group.
There has been a substantial increase in deferred revenue from long-term contracts for which the money has already been received, but only a portion has been recognised in the reporting period, Capital Appreciation reveals.
Deferred revenue amounted to R50.7 million (2023: R21.9 million), the majority of which is in the software division, which will enhance revenue recognition in future periods.
Capital Appreciation CEO Bradley Sacks says: “The group has a strong balance sheet and significant cash resources, supported by healthy operating cash flow.
“With substantial financial strength, we are well-positioned to pursue organic growth opportunities and consider additional complementary acquisitions. We are encouraged by the healthy pipelines that have been building up rapidly since the national elections. We are well-positioned to benefit from this increase in activity. In addition, the various tenders the payments division have recently secured will significantly benefit the performance of this division and the group in future.
“Capital Appreciation focuses on creating sustainable value for its shareholders. In addition to the increase in our share price, we have since 2017 returned R662 million, or 49.0c per share, to shareholders in the form of dividends.”