Webuycars expects leap in 6-month earnings
Webuycars Holdings expects core headline earnings for the half year to increase by as much as 29%, it said on Tuesday.
The company uses core headline earnings to measure and benchmark the underlying performance of the business.
Core headline earnings represents headline earnings adjusted for certain non-recurring or non-cash items that the board believes may distort the financial results from period to period.
Ahead of its JSE listing, the company incurred one-off professional, legal and listing fees of R45m.
The company said it experienced higher volumes, higher average selling prices, improved margins, and cost efficiencies as a result of economies of scale during the review period.
The group listed on April 11, with a sparkling debut on the JSE, reflecting the company’s growth trajectory from a local start-up to a major player in the used car market.
Shares in the company, which was spun out of Transaction Capital, opened at R20, eclipsing the initial public offering price of a R18.75 in what could be seen as indicative of investor confidence in the company, whose roots are firmly planted in the soil of entrepreneurial spirit.
Shares in Webuycars ended its debut session on April 11 at R20.40, giving it a market capitalisation of about R8.5bn. It closed on Monday at R19.18.
Webuycars’ journey began in the early 2000s when brothers Faan and Dirk van der Walt spotted a big problem in the used car market as individual consumers struggled to quickly sell older cars.
Today it stands as a beacon of growth and innovation, having transitioned from a modest start-up to a publicly traded entity competing with established names like Bidvest, which runs Mccarthy, and Motus, a colossus with a diverse brand portfolio and model range.
It has laid out an ambitious target of growing the number of vehicle sales by more than 60% over the next four to five years to 23,000 a month as it seeks expansion across the country with new warehouses and buying pods.