Nutun emerging from Transaction Capital saga

Nutun, which was formerly known as Transaction Capital, is attempting to claw back its way back to profitability after the signficant losses it made under its previous model, with some progress being made.

In the 2024 financial year, Nutun underwent transformative corporate activity to become a more simplified group.

Previously, Transaction Capital owned three business units: WeBuyCars, SA Taxi, and Nutun.

However, after continued losses, largely due to SA Taxi, the company decided to sell its taxi business and spin off WeBuyCars through a separate listing.

Now, the company has a more simplified model under the name ‘Nutun’ and trades as a global specialist Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) operator, providing collection and debt acquisition services in South Africa. 

The Nutun business consists of two focused and distinct customer-centric divisions: Nutun International and Nutun South Africa. 

The company explained that this operating structure enables each division to focus solely on their respective target markets, using their core competencies and competitive advantages under the single Nutun brand to deliver service to clients while leveraging group resources.

Nutun South Africa focuses exclusively on collections and recovery services for clients in South Africa.

This segment acts as a principal in relation to the acquisition of unsecured non-performing loan portfolios and as an agent on behalf of its clients in South Africa, primarily in the financial services, specialist lending, and retail sectors.

Nutun International focuses on BPO customer engagement services, including customer acquisition and retention, customer experience, collection and recovery services for clients located in the United Kingdom, the United States and Australia.

Nutun recently released its interim results for the six months through March 2025, which revealed a mixed bag for the company.

Positively, its continuing core earnings improved to a loss of R71 million, a significant jump from the R104 million loss it reported in the first half of its 2024 financial year.

Its basic loss from continuing operations improved from R1.72 billion to R64 million.

The company’s revenue struggled in the period, dropping from R416 million in H1 2024 to R393 million. Its cost of revenue also rose in the period, growing from R316 million to R352 million.

However, the company managed to improve its loss for the interim period, reporting a loss of R64 million, a significant improvement from the R2.09 billion loss it reported the previous year.

Segment performance

From a segment perspective, Nutun South Africa recorded a reduction in PBD revenue of R70 million (9%) due to reduced NPL portfolio acquisitions in its 2024 financial year and the first half of 2025.

The company also attributed this to the ongoing adverse economic environment and its resultant impact on consumer payment behaviour.

In addition, this segment saw reduced collections on existing portfolios due to deteriorating consumer payment behaviour, combined with an ageing portfolio due to the lack of adequate recency.

This resulted in a 5% increase in the portfolio amortisation cost from R400 million in H1 2024 to R422 million in H1 2025.

However, Nutun South Africa also saw an increase in agency commission and fee revenue by R11 million (6%) despite a reduction in the number of clients. This was due to a deliberate focus on more strategic, scalable and sizeable mandates.

The company also managed to reduce its net interest costs by R118 million due to the settlement of debt from the proceeds of the WeBuyCars, Nutun Australia and Nutun Transact disposals.

The company’s other segment, Nutun International, experienced flat revenue compared to H1 2024.

The company said this is because the business is still recalibrating its client base as it diversifies by geography and industry. 

“The revenue was concentrated during H1 2024 to a limited number of clients located in the United Kingdom energy sector where performance has normalised post stabilisation of the UK utility sector,” it explained. 

“The client base has grown to 35 clients with 2,069 billable seats by H1 2025.”

Positively, this segment saw its overhead decrease by R21 million due to cost savings, net of inflationary increases, driven by ongoing efficiencies. 

Since 2023, Nutun’s board has suspended cash dividends until the group has completed its restructuring.