The listed group noted in the 2024 full year results that it registered a profit before tax of P232 million, which was offset by tax amounts of P302 million that led to losses of P70 million. Speaking at the audited financial results announcement, interim Group CEO, Brighton Banda, said while the company had registered a loss position of P70 million, it was an improvement from the P149 million recorded in 2023 full year. He added this cut in profits was proof that the Botswana Stock Exchange-quoted company’s financial fundamentals were in place. “The group’s profit before taxation improved by 91% year-on-year for the financial year ending 2024, to P232 million. “While still in a loss after taxation position, the loss halved from P149 million in 2023 to P70 million in 2024, reflecting the recovery path the business is on,” the company said in a statement accompanying the results.
Banda said Letshego’s net interest income was up from 32% owing to the company’s deduction at source agreements and growth in their mobile money demand. “Despite challenges in 2024, we are strategically positioned to restore long-term profitability,” he said. For the six months financial period ending June 2024, Letshego was sitting on a positive bottom-line of P17.8 million, only to end the year with a net loss of P70 million cutting the profitability streak short and continuing the group's path of losses. However, Letshego’s customer deposits went up by 40% to P2.1 billion from 2023’s P1.5 billion. The home grown micro-lender has managed to scale its operations from the local market to other markets in Africa, achieving a regional footprint that has caused problems for the micro lender. Letshego posted after tax profits of P17.8 million for the half year ended June 2024. It had posted a year end loss of P149 million in 2023, with financials harmed by investments in markets such as Nigeria and Tanzania as inflationary pressures and subdued macro-economic climate hampered growth. According to directors, the group’s income growth was supported by mobile lending, a new product that has steered around the tough East and West Africa markets, which have been tough for Letshego.
The micro lender’s return on investment moved from negative three to negative one, due to challenges in tax that wiped away the company’s profit before tax. For several years, Letshego has been battling to lift the performance of its East and West African divisions, which include operations in countries like Ghana, Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, and Kenya. Disputes have broken out at both shareholder and executive level in previous years, over the African expansion strategy, amidst strident criticism that the Southern African units, particularly Botswana, are subsidising and papering over the underperformance of the East and West African divisions.
