Dual-listed Trustco Group Holdings says its mobile unit will rapidly expand across Africa, paving the way for the company to add its other products onto the platform.
Trustco Mobile, which is currently in talks “with several parties” as part of its expansion plan, offers free life cover to customers who purchase airtime under the Trustco Mobile brand. In the year to March, the unit made its first contribution to profit, adding R23 million to after tax earnings.
The Namibian-based group, the first to list on the JSE's Africa Board in February 2009, saw revenue grow 8%, to N$442 million, and profit leap 38%, to N$189.8 million, in the year to March. One Namibian dollar is equal to a rand.
Trustco says the performance is despite southern Africa's slow emergence from the global recession, historical low interest rates and severe flooding in northern Namibia.
Desnei Leaf-Camp, head of corporate strategy, says the mobile arm expects a “rapid increase in subscribers, as discussions with telecommunication operators and financial service providers develop into new business opportunities across the African continent”.
The unit's second step in its African expansion beyond Namibia launched on 7 October, in Zimbabwe. The company partnered with First Mutual Life Assurance and Econet Wireless and already has 1.6 million customers signed up. Trustco Mobile launched in 2008.
MD Quinton van Rooyen says: “With Trustco Mobile now well proven and accepted in the mobile and insurance markets, growth of this segment is expected to significantly increase and pave the way for the expansion of Trustco's other products and service offerings into the rest of Africa.”
The system works through cellular networks and, as long as consumers keep buying airtime, they have life insurance. Reminders are sent out via SMS when customers need to recharge. Trustco says any transactional-based solution can be built into the platform.
Earnings were bolstered by R68 million after it sold industrial plots just outside Windhoek. The group also benefited from a R54 million cash injection after winning a damages claim against the South African Broadcasting Corporation.
Share