PRETORIA – Cartrack Holdings, the listed fleet management, stolen vehicle recovery and insurance telematics group, is considering expanding its operations into France and Germany, and is making progress with its engagement with original equipment manufacturers (OEM) about vehicle telematics partnerships.
Zak Calisto, chief executive of Cartrack, said on Wednesday that the group was in 24 countries on five continents and had not moved into any new countries in the six months to August.
But Calisto said they were looking at opening up operations in France and Germany because of requests from many of Cartrack’s global customers that were from those countries.
“We are evaluating it and will make a decision in January. They are important markets when you want to play in Europe, so I think we will have good traction there,” he said.
If Cartrack decided to expand into these markets, they would have substantial fleets from day one, because it was already a client to these French and German companies in Poland, Spain and Asia, he said.
Calisto added that the OEM business was the smallest part of Cartrack’s business, but they were engaging with OEMs and envisaged that, within the next 10 years, it would account for about 70 percent of the group’s business.
“It’s a long process, but we have been well received, our technology has been tested, and I think we are making good progress,” he said.
Calisto said Cartrack was engaging with five OEMs, adding that by 2035 all vehicles would have an OEM-fitted telematics device.
Cartrack reported 28 percent subscriber growth to 849 772 in the six months to August from 666 422 in the previous corresponding period.
Calisto believed that once OEMs had developed their products and were using Cartrack’s services, they would be growing their subscriber base by 400 percent.Cartrack grew its annuity revenue by 27 percent to R710 million, which accounted for 93 percent of total revenue of R766 m.
Operating profit increased by almost 32 percent to R263.4m, from R200.1m, with the operating margin improving to 34 percent, from 32 percent.
Cash generated from operating activities increased by 47 percent to R262m.
Calisto said Cartrack had delivered robust subscriber and annuity revenue growth, which was primarily driven by the surge in demand from business for its software services platform and its ability to process data.
Cartrack shares rose 3.57 percent to close at R14.49 percent.