South African billionaire Zak Calisto's Karooooo posts record results as Cartrack accelerates

Karooooo, the vehicle tracking group founded by South African billionaire Zak Calisto, reported record full-year results and raised its dividend by 20 percent, extending a run that carried its founder into the dollar billionaire ranks.

The company, which owns the connected-vehicle platform Cartrack and the delivery business Karooooo Logistics, reported results for the year to Feb. 28. Group revenue rose 20 percent to 5.48 billion rand, while subscription revenue, the recurring income that underpins the business, climbed 19 percent to a record 4.84 billion rand.

Cartrack did the heavy lifting. The platform grew total revenue 19 percent to 4.94 billion rand, with subscription income up 19 percent to 4.83 billion rand, now 98 percent of Cartrack's total. Annual recurring revenue reached 5.18 billion rand, up 18 percent in rand terms, and Cartrack's South African operation accelerated to 23 percent growth in recurring revenue.

The growth came at a cost. Operating expenses rose as the company poured money into infrastructure, headcount and its distribution network, which held operating profit growth to 8 percent at 1.42 billion rand. Earnings per share also rose 8 percent, to 32.17 rand, or 32.55 rand once the costs of a secondary share offering in June 2025 are stripped out.

Shareholders were rewarded anyway. Karooooo declared a dividend of $1.50 a share, about 24.65 rand, a 20 percent increase, and Karooooo Logistics completed more than 8 million deliveries over the year.

Calisto framed the numbers as proof of a long-game strategy. He has repeatedly told shareholders the business is built for durable compounding rather than short-term gains, and he pointed to continued investment in the distribution network, the commercial launch of a new hardware product called Cartrack-Tag and advances in AI-powered video as the initiatives meant to protect Cartrack's premium against cheaper rivals.

The outlook was measured rather than bullish. The company guided to another acceleration in Cartrack subscription revenue growth for the 2027 financial year, with the midpoint of its earnings guidance implying about 21 percent growth.

Calisto's own story runs through the business. Born in Portugal, he moved to Mozambique as a small child and then to South Africa, dropped out of an actuarial science degree at the University of the Witwatersrand, did a stint at Standard Bank and worked as a distributor for rival tracker Netstar before striking out on his own. He launched Cartrack in 2001 and rebuilt it as an independent company from 2004, funding early customer acquisition with cash incentives that MTN and Vodacom paid for signing two-year contracts.

The company has since gone global. Cartrack listed on the Johannesburg exchange in 2014, moved its headquarters to Singapore in 2020 and relisted in 2021 as Karooooo, adding a Nasdaq listing and taking a name inspired by Calisto's affection for South Africa's Karoo region. It now serves more than 2.4 million subscribers across roughly two dozen countries.

Calisto crossed into billionaire territory in 2025 as the share price roughly doubled, joining a small group of South African dollar billionaires that includes Johann Rupert, Nicky Oppenheimer, Koos Bekker, Patrice Motsepe, Christo Wiese, Michiel le Roux and Jannie Mouton. He sold 1.5 million shares for about $75 million in June 2025, trimming his direct stake to around 58 percent, though a standing agreement over further voting rights keeps his control intact and his holding is still worth more than $1 billion.

What the results reinforce is the thesis Calisto has pushed since the listing, that connected-vehicle intelligence can be delivered profitably at scale across African and emerging markets. The company keeps spending to defend that lead, and for now the recurring revenue and the rising dividend suggest the strategy is holding.