from ODIRILE TOTENG in Gaborone, Botswana
Botswana Bureau
GABORONE, (CAJ News) – THE microfinance company, Letshego Holdings, has announced a return to profitability, thanks to an increase in mobile lending.
Announcing its financial results for the half-year of 2024, the Botswana-headquartered firm disclosed mobile lending was 73 percent higher than the previous period in 2023, up to P909 million (US$68,4 million), in line with the Group’s product diversification strategy.
Ghana continues to lead in mobile lending, with strong growth recorded in Tanzania and Botswana, the company stated.
“Mobile or Instant Loans is one of the Group’s more recent growth streams that stand to bring future growth value given access and benefits in providing micro capital to more underserved members of the community,” Letshego stated.
It noted however that while it still expected strong loan and income growth, driven by mobile loans, there is acknowledgement that the company was not immune to the external operating environment.
“We still expect to see downside impact from expected credit losses for the remainder of this year, although tempered by effective collection efforts and cost optimisation.”
The Botswana Stock Exchange-listed firm reported a 19-percent increase in income to P1,87 billion ($140,7 million) year-on-year. Operating income increased by 22 percent year-on-year to P1,34 billion ($100,8 million).
Letshego is celebrating 26 years of operations in the continent.
– CAJ News