Takealot has reported its first full-year adjusted operating profit, capping a turnaround for South Africa’s largest online retailer in the first full financial year it has faced Amazon.

Yet its owner, Naspers, has declined to reverse the R5.9-billion impairment it booked against the business two years ago – a sign of lingering caution even as the numbers improve.

In its annual financial statements for the year to 31 March 2026, Naspers said Takealot Group swung to an adjusted earnings before interest and tax (aEbit) profit of US$11-million, from a $13-million loss the year before. It was the first time the group, which spans the Takealot.com retail platform and the Mr D food-delivery service, had been profitable on that measure across a full year.

Despite that, Naspers left untouched the R5.9-billion writedown it recognised against its Takealot holding company, MIH Ecommerce Holdings, in the 2024 financial year.

The group said Takealot’s performance had improved, with stronger revenue growth and better gross margins, and that its valuation had risen above the carrying value of the investment.

Even so, it said, the improvement “does not yet justify the reversal of the impairment losses” booked in 2024. A record operating year was not enough to convince the board the business is worth what it once thought.

Group revenue grew 18% in local currency, excluding acquisitions and disposals, to $1-billion, while gross merchandise value (GMV) – the total value of goods sold across its platforms – rose 14% to $2-billion.

Biggest contributor

Adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (aEbitda) climbed 86% to $78-million. Naspers attributed the wider margins to category mix, retail media and its TakealotMore subscription programme.

Takealot.com, the core retail platform, remained the biggest contributor, with revenue up 28% to $906-million and an aEbit profit of $7-million on 15% GMV growth and 18% order growth. TakealotMore, the paid loyalty programme, accounted for 27% of the platform’s GMV. Mr D grew revenue 18% to $138-million and held its aEbit steady at $4-million.

Read: ‘Get it now’: Takealot in new instant deliveries pilot

The results cover the first full financial year in which Takealot has competed against Amazon, which opened its South African store in May 2024. Naspers said Takealot had grown “while successfully defending its market leadership”.

Naspers said it would scale Takealot Fulfilment Solutions (TFS) as a standalone revenue stream in the 2027 financial year, opening its warehousing and delivery network to external merchants across South Africa.

It is a page from Amazon’s own playbook – renting out fulfilment capacity to third-party sellers – and a bet on the one asset a global rival cannot quickly replicate: a built-out South African logistics network.

Naspers sees the parts as mutually reinforcing, with Takealot.com and Mr D generating volume, TakealotMore deepening engagement and TFS converting “operational capacity into revenue”.

Other disclosures echoed the caution behind the un-reversed writedown. The goodwill carried against the Takealot cash-generating unit stood at just $51-million, and in valuing the business Naspers applied post-tax discount rates of between 17% and 21% – at the higher end of the group’s range, reflecting the uncertainty in its forecasts. – © 2026 NewsCentral Media