In its latest interim financial results statement, used-car giant WeBuyCars (WBC) revealed that it earned R11.4 billion in revenue over the six months ended 31 March 2024, up 15.9% year on year, equating to a staggering R62.3 million per day.
Its core headline earnings soared by 26.6% to R402 million over this 183-day period, translating to daily profits of R2.2 million.
During this time, WBC purchased 81,785 vehicles and sold 80,538 across its network of 15 dealerships and 74 pods, reflecting an increase of 13.7% and 13.4%, respectively.
Interestingly, the company also noted that it incurred R69.497 million in professional and legal fees associated with its listing on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange in April.
WBC managed to boost its financials despite a tough trading environment brought about by higher interest rates, fuel costs, and inflation; lower levels of consumer confidence; and a surge in new-vehicle purchases.
It credited the growth to continuous efforts in enhancing its digital business platform.
“This proprietary platform empowers the company to optimise operations through pricing strategies. Moreover, it facilitates large-scale experimentation, enabling exploration of various business processes and pricing models dynamically,” said WBC.
“As the business continues to scale, so does the volume of data gathered, providing invaluable insights that fuel ongoing efficiency enhancements and the streamlining of the vehicle buying and selling processes.”
The organisation also upped its spending on marketing and invested heavily in its app and website.
These initiatives have seen WBC’s online touchpoints grow to an average of 6.4 million monthly hits across 2.0 million unique visitors.
“WeBuyCars’ agile business model and quick inventory turnover enabled it to respond to the market changes quickly by re-aligning inventory profiles to the lower-priced vehicles, to match consumer demand,” said the company.
New dealerships on the way
WBC has set itself ambitious goals of growing its monthly sales volumes to 23,000 units and doubling its market share by 2028.
In this endeavour, the company has signed property lease or purchase agreements in three new locations to which it plans to expand operations, comprising:
- East London, Eastern Cape
- Lansdowne, Cape Town, Western Cape
- Rustenburg, North West
The East London facility is projected to start trading in June 2024 with 300 bays displaying vehicles to potential customers.
Meanwhile, the new Cape Town and Rustenburg locations are presently earmarked “for future development.”
Due to its strong financial standing, WBC will be able to fund all of these initiatives from existing banking facilities, the retailer concluded.
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