{"id":860601,"date":"2026-05-18T08:44:17","date_gmt":"2026-05-18T06:44:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=860601"},"modified":"2026-05-18T08:44:53","modified_gmt":"2026-05-18T06:44:53","slug":"r14-7-billion-giant-started-by-two-brothers-in-south-africa-under-pressure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/business\/860601\/r14-7-billion-giant-started-by-two-brothers-in-south-africa-under-pressure\/","title":{"rendered":"R14.7 billion giant started by two brothers in South Africa taking strain"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

South African used-car giant WeBuyCars is facing pressure from an influx of cheaper Asian vehicles into the country, shifting local buying habits and squeezing the used-car market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The group, founded by brothers Faan and Dirk van der Walt, which currently has a market cap of R14.7 billion, recorded a drop in headline earnings, with operating profit dropping by 4.0% for the six months ending March 2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The company saw its six-month operating profit drop to R701 million from R730 million the year before. Meanwhile, headline earnings dropped to R500 million from R508 million in the same period last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The figures suggest that the cost of doing business is rising faster than revenue growth. The group noted that it is in the context of a “continued challenging and deflationary trading environment”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This stands in strong contrast to the buoyant trading conditions experienced in the prior period, it said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It added that core headline earnings were also impacted by the opening of three new supermarkets, “following a drive to invest ahead of the curve to secure expansion in key strategic areas”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, a notable pressure point flagged by the group is that the current trading environment has been impacted by growth in the new-vehicle market, which rose 15.7% in 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This was thanks in large part to the aggressive rise of competitively priced Asian brands<\/strong>, which have significantly influenced consumer behaviour and heightened competition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These brands have captured a notable new market share through attractive pricing and compelling finance options, the group said, which has, in turn, put pressure on margins in the used-car market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Used vehicle prices deflated over the six-month period, while inventory days increased from 28.9 to 33.2, suggesting vehicles remained on the floor longer before being sold.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other notable pressure points in the results are the group’s capital efficiency, with Return on Invested Capital (ROIC) falling from 26.7% to 21.0%, and Return on Equity (ROE) dropping from 47.6% to 30.1%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Growth plans remain on track<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Despite the pressure, the group’s other salient features show positive signs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Group revenue increased by 7.8% to R14.2 billion, while buying and selling volumes were up 3.2% and 2.3% to 95,328 and 93,519 units, respectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Sales volumes surpassed 15,500 units in four of the last six months, culminating in an all-time
monthly sales record of 17,209 units in March 2026,” it said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

January 2026 delivered an all-time buying record of 17,617 units, it added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“These recent milestones demonstrate the growing scale, reach and operational capacity of the group and reinforce the group\u2019s growth momentum.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

WeBuyCars added that the tougher trading conditions have also not impacted its longer-term growth strategy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The group is expanding its supermarket offerings, with three new openings taking its national footprint to 2,980 parking bays, up 23.6%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These additions are consistent with the group’s stated footprint expansion programme and support the group’s medium-term volume aspiration of buying and selling 23,000 vehicles a month by FY2028.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Progress towards this milestone remains on track,” it said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Looking ahead, the group said that it will continue to build out its geographic footprint, with a lease being signed on a property in Bloemfontein, which will accommodate approximately 380 parking bays.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The group is planning to open this capital-light supermarket in August 2026. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“This addition will establish a meaningful presence for the group in the Free State, extending the WeBuyCars network into a market that has historically been underserved by the group,” it said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It added that it has also recently signed a lease for a commercial vehicle facility adjacent to the R21 highway in Centurion, Gauteng, which will serve as the group\u2019s new home for its commercial vehicle business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The group declared a gross interim cash ordinary dividend of 33 cents per ordinary share, up from 30 cents per ordinary share in the same period last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Six Months Ended March 2026<\/th>2026<\/th>2025<\/th>Change<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
Revenue (Rm)<\/td>14,155<\/td>13,134<\/td>7.8%<\/td><\/tr>
Basic Earnings (Rm)<\/td>499.3<\/td>507.0<\/td>(1.5%)<\/td><\/tr>
Headline Earnings (Rm)<\/td>500.1<\/td>508.2<\/td>(1.6%)<\/td><\/tr>
ROIC (%)<\/td>30.1%<\/td>47.6%<\/td>(17.5pp)<\/td><\/tr>
ROE (%)<\/td>21.0%<\/td>26.7%<\/td>(5.7pp)<\/td><\/tr>
Units Bought (n)<\/td>95,328<\/td>92,339<\/td>3.2%<\/td><\/tr>
Units Sold (n)<\/td>93,519<\/td>91,392<\/td>2.3%<\/td><\/tr>
Inventory Days (n)<\/td>33.2<\/td>28.9<\/td>(14.9%)<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/div><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

South African used-car giant WeBuyCars is facing pressure from an influx of cheaper Asian vehicles into the country, shifting local buying habits and squeezing the used-car market.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":825879,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9872],"tags":[12861],"class_list":["post-860601","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","tag-webuycars"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/860601","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=860601"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/860601\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":860603,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/860601\/revisions\/860603"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/825879"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=860601"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=860601"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=860601"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}