Wednesday, February 12, 2025

Letshego Holdings defies the worst recession

Letshego Holdings Limited, the financial solution outfit, made a quantum leap in the six month reporting period as it posted sterling results that defied the impact of the worst recession since the great war.

The half year results to July 31, 2010 showed that interest income soared 24 percent to P 343 million while profit for the year seat comfortably at P 221 million to make its shareholders happy. Earnings per share was up 33 percent and subsidiaries outside Botswana were 29 percent better while its assets stood at P 2 billion.

“The directors anticipate that current economic conditions prevailing, the results in the second half of the financial year will be in line with the results of the first half,” the company bullishly stated in its statement.

The company further announced that it is burning the mid night oil scouting for acquisitions across the continent, adding that other measures aimed at making the organization a broader financial services provider, are underway.

It said its operations outside Botswana contributed 29 percent to profit before taxÔÇöout of the total figure of P 296 million.

The company said pent-up household credit demand bolstered the loan by 22 percent and was largely driven by its new operations in Namibia and Uganda that shot up by 143 percent and 79 percent, respectively.

Letshego operates in Botswana, Namibia, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia and has plans to enter Ghana in the near future. Its Mozambique operations are expected to be on stream before the end of the year.

“Botswana loan book recorded an increase of 22 percent with this loan business remaining the most significant as it accounts for 67 percent of the period and advances book and 71 percent of the Group’s profit before tax,” the company said.

However, it indicated that there were some disappointing experiences in Swaziland, Tanzania and Zambian markets.

“The performance of Letshego in Zambia has been disappointing with this subsidiary experiencing a number of operational and regulatory challenges,” it said.

Letshego is the second Botswana company to be slapped with unfriendly regulatory measures following Botswana Insurance Fund Management (Bifm) that was forced to sell part of its stake in African Life

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