MBABANE – Select’s parent company, SBC Limited reported mixed financial results, with improved performance in lending and after-tax profit, but declining group revenue.
According to the Eswatini Stock Exchange (ESE) listed investment holding firm’s reviewed results for the six-month period ended June 30, 2026, the group (SBC) faced a continued challenging operating environment, which affected operating profit compared to the prior period.
SBC Limited’s revenue fell 5.4 per cent to E218.83 million in the six months to June 2026, as competition and customer settlements pressured lending operations.
SBC’s consumer lending business in Eswatini, which is through Select Limited, recorded improved revenue and profitability during the six-month period, despite management acknowledging that demand for payroll-based loans remained below expectations.
Revenue from the Eswatini consumer lending segment increased to E129.61 million from E121.63 million in the comparative period, while profit before tax rose from E9.35 million to E13.12 million.
Profit after tax also improved significantly, reaching E18.69 million compared with E4 million previously. The figures indicate that the local lending operation strengthened its financial contribution even as the broader group experienced pressure on revenue.
The segment’s gross loan advances increased to E838.98 million from E821.20 million in June 2025. Net advances rose to E814.06 million from E791.68 million, suggesting that the local loan book continued to expand despite a challenging competitive environment.
Management, however, said demand for payroll lending had not met expectations, although performance had improved compared with the preceding period. Competition from lenders offering longer repayment periods and lower interest rates was identified as a factor affecting the company’s ability to attract and retain borrowers.
SBC has, therefore, been working to improve the performance of different lending channels. Payroll loan disbursements increased by 11.1 per cent to E69.3 million, while debit-order disbursements grew by 25.2 per cent to E43.5 million.
Collections also improved. Payroll collections increased by 2.5 per cent to E130.6 million, while debit-order collections rose by 3.2 per cent to E52.6 million.
The company also reported an improvement in group-level provisions, which declined to 3 per cent, a reduction of 0.6 percentage points. The short-term payday lending product was the only product to record a decline, falling by 19.6 per cent. However, it accounted for only 0.1 per cent of the total net loan book.
Despite the fall in total revenue, SBC reduced operating expenses to E82.06 million from E95.96 million, helping it maintain a broadly stable operating profit.
Operating profit stood at E131.77 million, compared with E132.15 million in the previous comparative period. The operating margin improved to 60.2 per cent from 57.1 per cent, while operating expenses fell to 37.5 per cent of revenue from 41.5 per cent.
The improvement in cost efficiency was not enough to prevent a sharp decline in profit before tax. Finance costs rose to E180.80 million from E157.20 million, placing pressure on earnings despite the reduction in operating expenses.
Investment income provided some support, increasing to E54.63 million from E43.63 million. Nevertheless, profit before tax fell to E5.37 million from E18.57 million.
Profit after tax increased to E12.02 million from E10.27 million, while earnings per share rose to 12 cents from 11 cents. The difference between the lower profit before tax and higher profit after tax reflects the taxation figures reported for the period, which showed a positive amount of E6.65 million in 2026 compared with a taxation expense of E8.30 million in 2025.
The results therefore present a mixed picture: Operating profitability remained stable and cost ratios improved, but higher financing costs and weaker lending revenue continued to constrain the group’s performance.
