4Sight earnings leap, led by back-office IT sales - Tertius Zitzke — Tertius Zitzke

4Sight Holdings has reported a sharp lift in earnings for the year to 28 February 2026 – but the JSE-listed group’s segmental data complicates the AI-led growth story it is pushing.

Revenue rose 16.3% to R1.16-billion, operating profit climbed 45.8% to R71.7-million and headline earnings per share grew 46.1% to 10.732c. Basic EPS was up 34.7% to 9.89c. The board declared a final ordinary cash dividend of 3c/share, payable on 22 June.

Operating profit at the information technologies cluster – the back-office IT business covering ERP, accounting, HR, payroll, CRM and business process management – nearly tripled, from R15.9-million to R43.8-million, on revenue growth of 29% to R269.8-million. That cluster was the biggest contributor in lifting group profit.

The operational technologies cluster – which houses the industrial AI, machine learning, predictive maintenance and digital twin offerings that anchor 4Sight’s strategic narrative – went the other way.

Revenue there grew by a more modest 7.1% to R258.9-million, while operating profit fell 21.6%, from R42.3-million to R33.2-million. Chief financial officer Eric van der Merwe attributed the slowdown to “a tough trading environment in the mining sector” and said the order book was improving in line with the recovery in resource prices.

The channel partner cluster – 4Sight’s largest by revenue at R449-million, distributing Microsoft, Sage and other software products – grew revenue by a healthy 15.2% but operating profit by only 8%. Van der Merwe cited “constraints on margins in a competitive resellers market”.

AI adoption

Van der Merwe credited internal AI adoption for the group’s productivity gains, noting that headcount grew by just 50 in the year despite the revenue increase.

CEO Tertius Zitzke pointed to “the high adoption of XFour’s 4edge secure, Popia-compliant WhatsApp delivery platform” – acquired in the prior year – as the main driver of the acquisition’s contribution to performance.

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Software-as-a-service revenue, which includes 4edge, rose 19.7% to R644.7-million. The XFour earn-out, exceeded by 64%, has crystallised a R25.4-million deferred vendor payment now sitting in current liabilities.

Cash and cash equivalents fell slightly to R111.8-million as the group lifted property, plant and equipment spending to R27.7-million (from R3.3-million) and paid R14.5-million, net of cash, on a subsidiary buyout. – © 2026 NewsCentral Media