Weaver Fintech grows revenue to R2.8 billion as payments-led fintech ecosystem scales

Weaver Fintech Ltd (JSE: WVR) delivered a resilient first-half performance, growing group revenue by 10% to R2.8 billion as its payments-led fintech ecosystem continued to scale across lending, payments and insurance.

The results reflect strong topline growth, accelerating fee-based revenue and disciplined execution. Profitability was impacted by lending credit performance with payment-processing issues, macroeconomic pressure and a deliberate increase in credit provisions.

Trading profit increased by 2.5% to R578 million, while profit after tax declined by 9.9% to R272 million and headline earnings per share decreased by 10% to 256.5 cents. The board has elected not to declare an interim dividend, preserving capital while credit performance normalises and supporting investment in higher-return fintech opportunities.

Key highlights

Fintech strategy gaining momentum

The results reflect Weaver Fintech’s continued evolution from a lending-led business into a broader digital financial services ecosystem. The group now serves 5.1 million customers, while the fintech customer base has grown to 4.8 million, adding more than 130,000 new customers per month. Customers using two or more products across the ecosystem increased by 29%, supporting higher customer engagement and average revenue per user.

“Weaver is building a connected ecosystem with shopping, financial services and digital solutions for our customers,” says Sean Wibberley, CEO of Weaver Fintech. “The fintech platform continues to gain momentum, with payments scaling strongly, fee income increasing and customer engagement deepening. At the same time, we have tightened credit appropriately for the prevailing macro headwinds, and we will hold that stance while consumer pressure persists.”

Diversified revenue strengthens earnings quality

Strategic focus on fee income resulted in an increase of 43.4% to R833 million, now contributing 40% of fintech revenue, up from 37% in the prior period. Payments revenue rose by 88% to R432 million, accounting for 21% of fintech revenue, while insurance gross written premium increased by 18% to R122 million. Disbursements growth was curtailed to 10% with lending income growing  by 21% to R1.5 billion.

Payments drive growth

Payments remain Weaver’s strongest-performing vertical. Gross merchandise value increased by 76% to R5.1 billion, supported by higher customer adoption, stronger transaction volumes and continued merchant activity. PayJustNow’s Pay-in-3 BNPL (Buy Now Pay Later) offering remains an important entry point to the ecosystem for our customers, while PayStretch™, the group’s Pay-in-12 product, continues to gain traction at check-out with transactions increasing by 286%.

Proactively curtailed disbursements and cut risk given market headwinds

The period was impacted by tougher economic conditions with payment issues and collections challenges  affecting credit performance. Group debtor costs increased by 44.2% to R1.2billion,  as the group raised provisions and had higher write-offs within the lending portfolio.

Management have responded to the lending challenges and conservatively positioned the business for future affordability pressures. Lending growth was curtailed from 30% in H1 2025 to 10% in H1 2026. Targeted lending approval rates were reduced from 81.4% to 75.8% and R700 million in credit limit exposure was cut. Improvements were made to DebiCheck tracking strategies and the arrears collections team was strengthened. While these actions weighed on short-term profitability, early metrics indicate improvement, strengthening the portfolio quality, supporting future cash generation and enhancing the sustainability of our earnings base.

Payments products are performing well with the BNPL product capital at risk maintained at less than 2% of gross merchandise value.  

Strong balance sheet and cash generation

Cash generated from operations improved by R320 million reflecting the strong performance of the retail and fintech credit books. The group ended the period with R240 million in cash and a further R860 million in available facilities, providing flexibility to fund future growth.

Retail focused on profitability

Retail sales declined by 27% to R496 million following deliberate changes to product, credit and channel strategies. Despite lower sales, trading profit increased by 15% to R36 million, gross margin improved to 46.8% and operating expenses declined by 32%, reflecting a sharper focus on profitability and cash generation.

Outlook

Weaver enters the second half of 2026 with a compounding fintech ecosystem. Engagement and adoption from within is driving profitability and lowering acquisition costs while fee income increases fintech revenue.  Integration with Payment Service Providers and new category penetration is creating wider merchant reach, and the new adtech platform will unlock advertising revenue, creating  another meaningful fee line.

“Our flywheel is accelerating,” says Wibberley. “Payments provide the entry point, new products unlock growth and cross-sell, data and analytics deepen our moat, and frequent customer engagement drives exponential value creation. Our connected ecosystem is improving our customers’ digital experience while also providing merchants with significant returns.”