Coronation’s AUM is still on the up (JSE: CML)

When markets are hot, asset managers are cooking

Coronation doesn’t make it easy when it comes to their assets under management (AUM) disclosure. They never give comparatives in the SENS announcement, an approach that I struggle to understand. At least they are consistent – whether the news is good or bad, they still don’t do it!

A fishing expedition through their SENS history reveals that AUM stood at R786 billion as at December 2025, up 16% from R676 billion as at December 2024. They’ve also grown nicely since the September 2025 number of R761 billion.

The company produced strong results in the year ended September 2025 and the momentum seems to be continuing. It certainly helps that the JSE had the best year that anyone can remember!

AUM is the driver of earnings and an increase in asset prices is the easiest way for these companies to grow in South Africa where we struggle to achieve meaningful investment flows from our cash-strapped consumers.

Karooooo is growing, but this quarter wasn’t great for margins (JSE: KRO)

When results are released quarterly, it’s a challenge for companies during a period of investment in the business

The business journey isn’t linear, especially for fast-growing companies that need to expand and then grow into the bigger shoes before expanding once more. Karooooo has always indicated to the market that margins can vary by a few hundred basis points, but that doesn’t mean that the market is forgiving when margins go the wrong way.

For the third quarter of FY26, which covers the three months to November 2025, Karooooo grew its subscription revenue by 20% in ZAR and 27% in USD. The world is still getting used to a situation where the rand strengthened against the dollar over the year!

That’s a strong revenue story, supported by a record number of net Cartrack subscriber additions and a 16% uptick in the total number of subscribers. Look, the company has to achieve record net additions on an ongoing basis to support the growth rate, but it’s still good to see.

Accompanying this result is an upgrade to the mid-point of FY26 revenue guidance – another good sign.

But the share price closed 3.9% lower on the day, so clearly all wasn’t well.

Adjusted earnings per share increased only 11% year-on-year as Cartrack’s operating profit margin compressed from 30% to 28%. They attribute this to the investment in “incremental sales capacity” and “acquisition-related expenses to support accelerated growth” – in other words, expenses and income don’t increase at the same rate in every quarter.

Although absolutely tiny in the group context, operating profit at Karooooo Logistics increased by 7% and the margin contracted from 8% to 7%.

The group is focused on driving both sources of revenue growth: the number of subscribers and the ARPU (Average Revenue Per User). The latter is achieved through selling additional solutions to the existing customer base, like Video and Cartrack Tag solutions.

The guidance for FY26 adjusted earnings per share is between R32.50 and R35.50. The share price at ~R757 is therefore a three-month forward earnings multiple of around 22.3x. This is a demanding multiple, with the share price down 12% in the past 12 months. It hasn’t helped that founder Zak Calisto sold a sizable number of shares over the period as part of a (well-deserved) process of taking value off the table.

Quilter caps off a fantastic year (JSE: QLT)

The most important metric (core net inflows) looks fantastic

In the same way that mining companies are judged on production (as they can’t control commodity prices), large asset and wealth management houses are judged on net inflows. This is because they can’t control broader market prices, so the main driver of assets under management and administration (AuMA) that they can control is net inflows from clients.

In that regard, Quilter’s report card would definitely earn the company an ice cream from its parents (as I think back to my once-a-term Magnum as a kid). For the full year, core net inflows came in a whopping 75% ahead of the prior year. They represented 8% of opening AuMA, a significant improvement from 5% in 2024.

Things admittedly slowed down in the fourth quarter, with core net inflows up 21% vs. the comparable period, but a growth rate as high as 75% simply cannot be maintained into perpetuity.

Remember, core net inflows tell you about the rate of growth attributable to client moves, not total asset prices in the market. The growth rate that actually drives revenue growth is the movement in total AuMA, which in this case was 18% for the year. Again, that’s very good.

The Affluent segment did the heavy lifting, with strong growth rates across both the Quilter channel and the independent financial advisor (IFA) channel. Quilter has been working hard on distribution, and the results speak for themselves. In business, distribution is one of the most powerful assets you can have. Additional good news for profitability is that sales per Quilter adviser in the Quilter channel grew 12% year-on-year.

The High Net Worth segment was a less enjoyable story, with a fourth quarter net outflow based on how clients are positioning themselves ahead of the UK Budget. The UK government is pretty hostile towards its wealthiest residents at the moment. For the full year, net inflows in this segment still increased 15% year-on-year and represented 2% of opening AuMA.

The share price closed over 4% higher in appreciation, taking the move over the past year to 17%.

Nibbles:

• Director dealings:
  • An associate of a director of Dis-Chem (JSE: DCP) sold a casual R36 million worth of shares. That’s a meaty trade.
  • A Richemont (JSE: CFR) executive (or director – we don’t know for sure) sold shares worth R8.5 million.
  • A director of a major subsidiary of Southern Sun (JSE: SSU) sold shares worth R406k.
  • Astral Foods (JSE: ARL) announced that the CEO bought shares worth R308k.

• Numeral (JSE: XII) released results for the nine months ended November 2025. It remains a very small company, with revenue of just R1.9 million for the period. At least they make a small operating profit! They are taking steps to do far more with the listed structure, having recently recovered its stake in Cryo-Save and then moving it higher to a 51% controlling position.

• Astral Foods (JSE: ARL) announced that the acting CFO for the month of February will be Henry Enslin. It really is just for the month, as Johan Geel is the incoming CFO with effect from 1 March.