WeBuyCars under pressure in South Africa

WeBuyCars posted a strong set of financial results for the year ended 30 September 2025, with the company’s core headline earnings rising by 15% year-on-year. 

This is WeBuyCars’ preferred financial metric for detailing the business’s performance, stripping out one-off effects over the financial year. 

The company admitted that these results were delivered in a challenging trading environment, with the used car market no longer proving immune to South Africa’s economic challenges. 

It has also faced increasing competition in the sector, with AutoTrader upgrading its platform to make it easier to buy and sell cars. 

Most notably, new car sales have skyrocketed in South Africa, growing by over 20% year-on-year, as interest rate cuts and strong real wage growth boost affordability. 

WeBuyCars said the second half of the year was particularly challenging, with volumes coming under pressure amid low economic growth, low consumer confidence, and lower bank approval rates. 

It also revealed that it experienced margin pressure resulting from structural shifts within the South African automotive industry, pointing to the strong growth seen in the new car market. 

More affordable Chinese brands have also impacted WeBuyCars, with these companies offering new cars at low price points. 

“The continued strength of the new vehicle market, together with the rapid rise of competitively priced Chinese brands, including GWM, Chery, Omoda, Jaecoo, Jetour, MG, JAC and BAIC, has significantly influenced consumer behaviour and heightened competition,” WeBuyCars said. 

“These brands have captured notable market share through attractive pricing and compelling new-vehicle offerings.”

“To maintain liquidity and ensure healthy inventory turns, WeBuyCars adjusted selling prices on vehicles competing within these price brackets. This proactive measure placed short-term pressure on margins during the second half of the year.”

WeBuyCars responded to these growing challenges by altering its buying and selling behaviour towards more affordable, faster-moving inventory that aligns with current market demand. 

It said this change is already delivering improved sales volumes and margins, with the lessons learnt during this period setting the company up for a better future. 

“The buoyant new vehicle market and the growing penetration of Asian brands are expected to have a positive long-term impact for WeBuyCars, as these vehicles will enter the used-vehicle market in the future. This will expand the Group’s acquisition base and opportunity set,” it said. 

WeBuyCars financials

Despite these challenges, WeBuyCars continued to show strong growth, increasing its revenue by 13.1% year-on-year. 

This was driven by a solid increase in the number of vehicles bought and sold, with the company selling close to 15,000 vehicles a month in the past financial year. 

The strong growth translated into an improved operating profit of R1.3 billion, which is up 9.7% year-on-year. 

Core headline earnings, the company’s preferred metric, reached R937 million in the past financial year, an increase of 15% on the prior period. 

WeBuyCars’ per share metric was distorted by the issuance of 83 million new shares in the past financial year, as set out in the company’s pre-listing statement. 

These new shares bring the total weighted average number of ordinary shares at 30 September 2025 to 417,401,341 – up from 375,029,205 in 2024.

This resulted in core headline earnings per share rising by only 3.3% to 224.6 cents per share. 

WeBuyCars declared a final cash dividend of 30 cents per share, an increase of 20% year-on-year, after net cash generated rose by 14.5% to R677 million. 

During the year, WeBuyCars continued to expand and enhance its national footprint, opening two new supermarkets in Rustenburg and Vereeniging. 

This expansion adds 300 and 550 parking bays, respectively. Both sites have delivered pleasing results since opening, the company said. 

WeBuyCars also invested heavily in expanding existing physical real estate, with the Pietermaritzburg supermarket being relocated to a larger site with capacity for 300 parking bays. 

Facilities in George, Polokwane, Mbombela, the Dome, Johannesburg South, Riverhorse Valley, Gqeberha and Germiston were expanded. 

As of 30 September 2025, the national capacity increased to 12,911 parking bays. The planned openings of the Montana in Pretoria and Lansdowne supermarkets in late November and early December 2025, respectively, will increase total capacity by more than 20%.