Cartrack owner Karooooo aims to be the largest player in Southeast Asia’s vehicle-tracking and telematics software market in the coming decade.
The group’s long-held view is that the region can be its main driver of growth.
The group, valued at R27.73bn on the JSE, is positioning itself as a leading global mobility software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform providing real-time data analytics to the transport and logistics sectors.
The SA established business is the largest in a market where it has traditionally competed with Mix Telematics and Altron’s Netstar. The group is working to extend its mobility business using data analytics and artificial intelligence (AI).
CEO Zak Calisto said the group was already the largest player in Singapore, with moves to achieve a similar market leading position in the rest of the region. “In Singapore, we’re number one, we’re the biggest. We’ve even got a stronger position in Singapore than in SA.”
When Cartrack entered the market in 2015, many of the established players were 15 years old, but his firm was able to come out ahead Calisto said.
“In SA, we’ve got market share of around 41%. And in Singapore, we’ve got market share of about 60%. That’s quite strong We’ve got the best presence in Southeast Asia. I believe, give us another five to 10 years, we will undoubtedly have a [stronger] presence. I think we will be equally as strong as we are in Singapore,” he said.
Karooooo on Wednesday reported a 21% rise in earnings for its fiscal 2025 third quarter and has reaffirmed its full-year guidance of adjusted earnings per share of R27.50 to R31.
Adjusted earnings per share increased 21% year on year in the three months to end-November to a record R7.67.
Cartrack subscribers increased 17% to 2,223,227, while net Cartrack subscriber additions rose 15% to 86,617.
Karooooo’s subscription revenue increased 14% to R1.03bn, with Cartrack’s subscription revenue rising by a similar percentage to R1.029bn.
Karooooo Logistics’s B2B delivery-as-a-service revenue increased 20% to R109m.
Karooooo’s operating profit increased 18% to R325m while that of Cartrack grew 7%.
“We delivered another robust quarter of customer acquisition while we continue to expand our distribution capabilities. Importantly, we have now settled in our newly built central office in SA and look forward to strong organic growth in this region,” Calisto said.
The group’s investment in Europe over the past few quarters was starting to yield “exciting results”, he said.
Southeast Asia’s subscription revenue grew by 26% on a constant currency basis and remained the group’s biggest medium- to long-term opportunity, he said.
Cartrack’s number of subscribers are expected to be between 2.3-million and 2.4-million and its subscription revenue is seen at between R3.95bn and R4.15bn.
“We believe Karooooo is strongly positioned for growth. We operate in a growing and largely underpenetrated market, with strong demand from customers needing to be competitive and digitalise their operations,” Calisto said.
“Our proven, robust and consistently profitable business model, underpinned by a strong balance sheet and healthy cash position, gives us multiple levers for expansion. We expect our continuous investment in our AI products, platform and customer experience to generate robust results in the future.
“We remain confident that our track record of success, specifically our ability to generate healthy cash flows, is sustainable,” he said.
The group was founded by Calisto in 2004 and is listed on the JSE and Nasdaq. Its shares were trading 2.21% higher at R924.99 on Wednesday. The stock has more than doubled over the past 12 months.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.