iOCO expects to report headline earnings of between 55c and 60c/share for the year ended 31 July 2026, up 37.5-50% on the 40c it reported a year ago – but the group’s claim to have come in ahead of guidance rests on an earnings measure it has not published before.
The JSE-listed IT services group, formerly EOH Holdings, said on Tuesday that net profit after tax for FY2026 should come in at between R348-million and R360-million, an increase of 35-40% on the R258-million reported in FY2025. Earnings per share and headline earnings per share are both expected at 55-60c, as they were at the interim stage.
When iOCO published its interim results in March, it formally raised full-year guidance to Ebitda – earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation – “above R610-million”, up from the R580-million to R600-million set out with its FY2025 results in October. Tuesday’s statement puts Ebitda at between R595-million and R616-million. Only the top of that range clears the guidance the company gave itself six months ago.
The “ahead of guidance” claim sits more comfortably on a second measure, adjusted Ebitda, which it expects to be in the range of R610-million to R636-million. The statement does not say what has been adjusted out, and the FY2025 comparative for both lines is the same R513-million – which means the adjustments are specific to FY2026 and worth between R15-million and R20-million.
iOCO reported net profit of R180-million for the six months to 31 January, up 46% from R123-million, on revenue of R2.83-billion – its first organic revenue growth in several years. Working back from the full-year range, the second half will deliver between R168-million and R180-million, at best flat on the first six months. Headline earnings per share of 28c at the interim stage implies 27-32c in the second half, and first-half Ebitda of R305-million implies R290-million to R311-million.
Comparatives
Measured against the second half of FY2025 rather than the first half of FY2026, that is still growth – on TechCentral’s calculation, 24-33% at the profit line – but short of the 46% the group posted at the interim stage. The comparatives are part of the explanation: the turnaround began showing up in the numbers during FY2025, so iOCO is now lapping periods that were themselves improving.
The second half also carries whatever the MySky Group contributed. iOCO signed the binding agreement for the R52-million networking deal on 12 March, its first acquisition in eight years, placing any earnings from it in the second half rather than the first. A second deal, for ERP specialist Astraia Technologies, was signed on 16 July, two weeks before the financial year ended.
Revenue is not disclosed in the trading statement, so it is not yet clear how much of the earnings improvement came from cost and margin work rather than growth in the top line. Management credits its three-step strategy of cost rationalisation, decentralisation and disciplined capital and resource allocation. The figures have not been reviewed or reported on by iOCO’s auditors.
Cash is the other number to watch when the audited results are published, which iOCO expects on 14 October. March’s guidance included free cash flow of not less than 60c/share and recurring revenue above 60%, and CEO Rhys Summerton has set out a medium-term ambition he calls “500 divided by 500” – R500-million of free cash flow across 500 million shares, against roughly 620.9 million in issue in March. The group has been buying back stock steadily to close that gap, including during closed periods, which lifts per-share earnings independently of trading performance.
Share price
iOCO was trading at R3.97 on Tuesday, down 6.37% over the past year and 5.48% over the past month. The stock is up 148.1% over three years, but that gain was banked in the early part of the turnaround; for the past year it has moved sideways to down while earnings climbed. It is also now trading below the average R4.14/share iOCO paid for the stock it repurchased up to March. — (c) 2026 NewsCentral Media
