Nutun, the JSE-listed South African provider of business processing solutions, reduced its headline loss from total operations to a R63 million loss in the six months to March 31, from a R135m loss at the same time a year before, aided by enhanced collection methods
.“Operational performance was strong, particularly for Nutun South Africa. Earnings were, however, adversely affected by Rand strength and accelerated amortisation driven by forward-looking macro-economic assumptions, including an elevated interest rate forecast relative to our expectations,” exechtive chairman Jonathan Jawno and CFO Rob Huddy said on Monday.
Nutun South Africa and Nutun International operate in the South African collections and recovery market and the South African business process outsourcing (BPO) offshoring sector.
Nutun International specialises in BPO customer engagement services, including customer acquisition and retention, customer experience, and collections and recovery services for clients in the UK, US, and Australia.
Nutun South Africa’s revenue increased 15% to R1.05 billion, while Nutun International’s revenue fell 1% to R559m. Nutun South Africa’s operating costs increased 14% to R395m, while Nutun International’s costs fell 2% to R470m.
Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) increased 28% to R790m. The group core loss from continuing operations reduced by 11% to R63m.
Jawno and Huddy said in the results the improvement in the core loss was mainly due to PBD (purchased book debts) collections improving by 28% to R773m, impacted by PBD acquisitions in the second half of the 2025 financial year of R593m and R382m in the first half of 2026.
Collections were also favourably impacted by enhanced collection methodologies.
RTC (right-to-collect) revenue improved by 27% to R116m, impacted by acquisitions in the second half of R77m and in the first half of R28m, in addition to collections enhancements.
Agency commission and associated fee revenue declined by 15% to R159m, following the shift to focus on larger, scalable, and more profitable mandates, resulting in fewer clients.
Other income fell by R31m to R4m due to the termination of the Mobalyz Group Holdings management fee and a gain on lease modification in the prior period. Lower operating costs were driven by cost optimisation, primarily through headcount reductions.
EBITDA improved by 36% to R710m. Portfolio amortisation costs increased by 41% to R597m, driven by portfolio ageing and macro-economic factors linked to interest rates, inflation, and consumer health & payment behaviour.
Net interest costs fell 7% to R203m, reflecting the repo rate cuts and tight treasury management.
Nutun International revenue and other income decreased by 1% to R559m due to the adverse impact of average exchange rates for the period of R27m, offset by a growth in billable seats from existing and new clients.
Closing billable seats grew by 20% to 2,491, with the client base growing to 36. Operating costs increased by only 2% due to ongoing cost optimisation. EBITDA decreased by 15% to R80m, mainly as a result of the adverse foreign exchange impacts of R46m.
“The business continues to streamline its operations, simplify its client approach, and optimise its collections framework and associated technology infrastructure. The outlook remains positive,” said Jawno and Huddy.
Nutun International grew its billable seats, but the Rand strength exerted pressure on margins, the AI impact on contact centres started to drive down some inbound customer demand, and the current geopolitical environment continues to drive foreign exchange volatility.
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