There seemed to be an air of desperation in early billboards featuring Bronkhorstspruit-bred Faan and Dirk van der Walt. The huge outdoor adverts featured the brothers with broad smiles and hands full of cash, reminding passing drivers that “We Buy Cars”. Comical perhaps, but they certainly worked.
Two decades on their company is worth R10bn according to Transaction Capital CEO David Hurwitz. Who should know as he’s about to buy another 14% of the business, taking TA’s stake to 89%. Helped by TC’s funding, it’s growing like topsy, revenues surging 66% to almost R18bn in the 12m to end September.
That ranks WeBuyCars just behind Truworths and ahead of WBHO in turnover; and within SA’s Top 100 companies on market cap. Hurwitz and I spoke a lot about WBC in our post-results interview yesterday. At 43%, the Van der Walt-creation is now the group’s biggest profit source, up from 27% last year and 7% when it first entered the accounts in 2020.
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The future looks bright. When Hurwitz bought an initial 49.9% two-and-a-bit years ago, WeBuyCars was selling 5 000 vehicles a month. That’s at 12 000 now, with a short-term target of 15 000. Plus, a new adventure has begun in Morocco where a fledgling outlet buys and sell a car a day. Hurwitz reckons in five years that could hit 40% of SA’s turnover.
Transaction Capital is in the BizNews model portfolios. We’re along for the ride. And thanks to WeBuyCars – very happily.
More for you to read today:
- Wealthy Russians seen fueling demand for Caribbean island’s passport. The Caribbean island of Grenada initially banned Russians from its citizenship by investment program in March but reversed course in June.
- Buffett takes $5 billion stake in TSMC, sparking surge in shares. Assuming Warren Buffett bought TSMC’s ADRs at the average price for the third quarter, the stake would have cost him $5.1 billion.
- Stocks roar after latest inflation data. A slowdown in inflation is strengthening the case for the Federal Reserve to slow its pace of interest-rate hikes.
- Rishi Sunak, the British and race. RW Johnson writes on what Trevor Noah & Co. get wrong about the Conservatives’ choice of the new PM.
- It might be time to recalibrate your retirement expectations. Factors such as the domestic economy and inflation, and rising life expectancies could give you some cause to reassess and rebalance your retirement plan.
- Lend an ear to this lord – Renwick’s appeal. In a colourful address peppered with previously unrecorded, fascinating interactions he had with De Klerk and Mandela, Renwick singles out the villains and the heroes of our recent history.
Upcoming webinars
Looking Ahead: Investing for 2024 with Alec Hogg
Following the resounding success of Alec’s recent roadshow with Standard Bank and an overwhelming number of requests from the tribe to access the presentation we’ve decided to set up a final webinar exclusive to Standard Bank and BizNews.
Click here to register to Join Alec as he looks forward to 2024 in light of the National Elections as he shares his views on how an investor can approach their portfolio given the potential outcomes of these upcoming elections.
The webinar will take place on Friday the 18th of November at 10h00, you need to register beforehand to attend.
Monthly BizNews Share Portfolio Webinar
Alec will be giving us his monthly update on the recently restructured share portfolio, which saw a movement to onshore equities and an already pleasing set of results in its first month of performance.
Click here to register to join Alec next Tuesday, the 22nd of November at 12h00.
If you missed last month’s webinar and would like to catch up, you can find it here.
London-based South African money manager Sean Peche is flying right now, with a value-based approach elevating his Ranmore Funds into the top one percentile according to performance monitoring company Morningside. Peche has shared some of the love with the BizNews tribe – recommending two stocks that shot the lights out since being included in our model portfolios. In-form Peche explains to BizNews’s Alec Hogg how his process of seeking value and ignoring fashion helped him dodge performance-killing bullets – and a warning that the next shoe to drop could be a downrating of shares in top-quality multinational companies.
