Lesaka Technologies has built its pending acquisition of Bank Zero into its full-year forecast, as it reaffirms a target of adjusted core earnings of up to R1.6 billion in the year to June 2027.
The Nasdaq- and JSE-listed technology group is targeting full-year net revenue, after prepaid product costs, third-party commissions and network fees, of between R7 billion and R7.7 billion; adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of R1.45 billion to R1.6 billion; and adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of R7.50 to R8.50.
On Wednesday night, after the close of the New York market, the company reported its first-quarter results for the 2027 financial year. Net revenue increased 8% year-on-year to R1.6 billion, although it recorded an operating loss of R17.2 million.
The net loss attributable to shareholders narrowed from R82 million in the comparable period a year earlier to R68 million. Adjusted EPS, however, declined 26% to 72 cents.
Lesaka shares closed 3.5% higher on Nasdaq on Wednesday, after gaining 0.74% on the JSE on Tuesday ahead of the local government elections. They fell 13.04% in after-hours trading on Nasdaq after the results were released.
In September, the company reported it had achieved a net profit for the year to June 2026, its first since the fintech group was created out of former Net 1 UEPS Technologies in 2022.
Second-half sprint
Lesaka executive chairman Ali Mazanderani says the company has delivered first-quarter results “in line with our expectations”. He adds it has “now met our profitability guidance for 17 consecutive quarters, and I am pleased to reaffirm our full-year outlook”.
Having reported adjusted EBITDA of R220.1 million in the first quarter, the company expects between R280 million and R320 million in the second quarter. ITWeb’s calculations shows this leaves between R910 million and R1.1 billion to be generated in the second half of the financial year to meet its full-year guidance.
The group states in its results announcement that its full-year outlook includes the anticipated impact of the pending Bank Zero acquisition, which is subject to regulatory approval, including approval by the Financial Surveillance Department of the South African Reserve Bank. It excludes any “unannounced mergers and acquisitions that we may conclude”.
The company does not separately quantify Bank Zero’s anticipated contribution to its full-year forecast.
Full stack
CEO Lincoln Mali told ITWeb in September that the company was awaiting regulatory approval, a process that was “out of our hands at the moment”. Acquiring Bank Zero would allow the group to offer “a full banking service range of solutions” to merchants and consumers alongside its existing fintech products, he said.
Mali added that one of the most significant benefits of the acquisition would be the opportunity to use deposits to fund lending to consumers and merchants. Lesaka currently lends from its own balance sheet, using money borrowed from banks.
“With a bank in our stable, we’ll be able to use bank deposits to be able to lend.” This, he added, would bring down the group’s borrowing costs and give it more flexibility over how it deploys its capital.
Mali described the broader strategy as offering customers a wider range of services through the same platform. A restaurant, for example, could use Lesaka’s point-of-sale system and payment acquiring services, before turning to its lending products to finance an expansion or renovation.
“The core element of why we built the platform is to be able to offer the widest breadth of solutions to a client.” The aim, Mali added, was to build both transaction volume and the number of products used by each customer.
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