Cartrack owner Karooooo began its 2026 financial year on a positive note, recording another quarter of double-digit growth, bolstered by its SA business and aggressive expansion in Southeast Asia.
Karooooo on Wednesday reported a 19% rise in adjusted earnings per share (EPS) to R8.55 in the quarter to end-May.
The group’s operating profit increased 17% to R352m while that of Cartrack grew 19%.
“We are pleased to report a strong start to FY2026, highlighted by accelerating Cartrack subscription revenue growth across all regions. We are realising the benefits of our extensive footprint, and we believe that we remain well positioned to build our customer base,” said Zak Calisto, Karooooo founder and CEO.
The group was founded by Calisto in 2004 and is listed on the JSE and Nasdaq.
Calisto was speaking as Karooooo registered another quarter of growth in subscribers and revenue, helping to deliver an increase in operating profit of about 25%.
“We remain optimistic about continued healthy organic growth in all geographies. Southeast Asia continues to present the largest growth opportunity for us over the medium to long term and is our fastest growing region. Cartrack subscription revenue growth in Southeast Asia accelerated to 30% in the first quarter,” he said.
“We believe our ongoing investments in AI [artificial intelligence], platform innovation and customer experience will continue to drive durable growth and robust results.”
Cartrack subscribers increased 17% to 2,386,249, while net Cartrack subscriber additions rose 11% to 84,013.
Cartrack, the group’s biggest business competes with Altron-operated Netstar, Mix Telematics, which recently merged with Powerfleet, and Tracker SA.
Karooooo’s subscription revenue increased 18% to R1.14bn, with Cartrack’s subscription revenue rising by 18.5% to R1.14bn.
Karooooo Logistics’s B2B delivery-as-a-service revenue increased 19.8% to R121m.
Video products have become a driver for the group’s continued growth.
In addition to typical vehicle tracking, Cartrack offers a range of dashboard cameras (dash cams) that can monitor the road and environment a car is in, as well as in-vehicle activity.
Karooooo’s operating expenses were up 16% to R523m, Cartrack accounted for the bulk of spend at R497m, including investments in infrastructure and headcount “to support territorial expansion and distribution growth”.
In SA, the group’s main market, Cartrack subscribers increased 16% to 1,795,829, while subscription revenue growth for the period also grew by the same amount.
Overall, the company’s guidance for the 2026 financial year remains unchanged.
The group expects Cartrack’s subscription revenue to be between R4.7bn and R4.9bn, which implies Cartrack subscription revenue growth of between 16% and 21%. If achieved, this would support Cartrack’s operating profit margin between 26% and 31%, with group earnings per share (EPS) between R32.50 and R35.50.
Karooooo reported a net cash and cash equivalents balance of R1.103bn at the end of the quarter, compared to R838m, at the end of the last financial year.
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