Nutun, formerly known as Transaction Capital, has narrowed its losses in the first half of the financial year after restructuring its business by selling noncore assets.
The group underwent comprehensive restructuring in 2024 and now trades as a global specialist business process outsourcing (BPO) operator and provider of collection and debt acquisition services in SA. It changed its name to Nutun in March.
Revenue for the six months ended March was 4% lower at R1.48bn due to reduced non-performing loans portfolio (NPL) acquisitions in 2024 and the first half of 2025 and the impact on consumer payment behaviour of the adverse economic environment.
Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amoritisation (ebitda) were 17% lower at R615m.
The core loss from continuing operations narrowed to R71m from R104m a year ago and the headline loss per share improved to 17.2c from a loss of 231.2c.
Dividends have been suspended until the group has completed its restructuring, with no cash dividend being declared in the current period.
The discontinued operations include WeBuyCars, Nutun Australia, Nutun Transact, Mobalyz and Transaction Capital Business Solutions.
The Nutun business consists of two focused and distinct customer-centric divisions: Nutun International and Nutun SA.
Nutun SA focuses exclusively on collection and recovery services for local clients both as a principal in relation to the acquisition of unsecured NPL portfolios and as an agent on behalf of its clients in SA within the financial services, specialist lending and retail sectors. Nutun International focuses on BPO customer engagement services, including customer acquisition and retention, customer experience, collection and recovery services for clients located in the UK, the US and Australia within the utilities, financial services, retail, telecommunications and e-commerce sectors.
The group said that while Nutun’s medium- and long-term potential is positive and much has been achieved in the first year of a two-year restructuring process, the interim results reflect that the transition will need time to become embedded and gain traction in the business.
“The group has been simplified, with a material reduction in overheads achieved, including the elimination of the group head office. Both divisions, Nutun SA and Nutun International, remain customer focused with clear target markets and client bases, streamlined cost architectures and experienced management teams which enables them to capitalise on their leading positions in the SA collections and recovery market and the SA BPO offshoring market,” it said.
While the group’s liquidity position has been materially enhanced, thus enabling it to re-enter the book-buying market, its absence, combined with pricing disconnects within certain sectors of the market, continues to delay the maintenance and growth of the portfolio.
“Notwithstanding the growing pool of NPL portfolios in the market, the group continues to apply rigorous credit and risk mitigation policies in its acquisition process. Nutun International’s increasingly diversified client base provides a stable and more tangible platform for future growth, which is augmented by the tailwinds supporting the SA BPO sector in general,” it said.
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