A look inside Metair’s half-year results, from rising profitability and falling debt to the challenges facing local vehicle manufacturing. We unpack the numbers, where management sees growth, and what investors should be watching next.

More than 10,000 EasyEquities investors own a piece of Metair. So when CEO Paul O’Flaherty and CFO Alastair Walker joined us to unpack the company’s half-year results to June 2026, we wanted to get beyond the numbers and into what’s actually happening inside the business.

Here are a few of the things that stood out.

First, The Headline Numbers

Metair reported revenue of R8.5 billion, up 1%, while EBITDA increased 8% to R760 million and headline earnings per share rose 11% to 72 cents. Net debt came in at R4.3 billion, down from R5.0 billion a year earlier, and no dividend was declared. Those numbers become more interesting when you look at the environment Metair is operating in.

South Africans are buying cars. They’re just not necessarily built here.

South Africa’s new vehicle market has been growing, but there’s an important distinction for Metair. The company primarily supplies components to vehicles manufactured locally. And increasingly, the cars South Africans buy are imported. According to figures shared by Metair, 69% of new light vehicles sold in South Africa in 2025 were imported, up from 63% in 2024 and 59% in 2023.

That matters when your customers include local manufacturing operations for the likes of Toyota, Ford, Volkswagen, Isuzu and Mahindra.

Despite those pressures, Metair managed to improve profitability in parts of the business. In its OEM businesses excluding Hesto, revenue declined 3%, while profit increased 30% and margins improved from 6.4% to 8.5%. O’Flaherty puts that down to work the business has been doing behind the scenes to make its factories more efficient and flexible as manufacturers adjust their production volumes.

Debt Is Still A Big Part Of The Story

Metair ended the half with R4.3 billion in net debt, compared with R5.0 billion a year earlier. Management isn’t pretending the job is finished.

Capital expenditure has remained high, including investment linked to Toyota’s ninth-generation Hilux, but Walker expects spending to moderate and debt repayment to accelerate from next year.

And when we asked what shareholders should measure management against over the next 12 to 18 months, the answer was refreshingly simple: grow headline earnings and bring debt down.

So, Where Could Growth Come From?

One area Metair is leaning further into is the aftermarket: the batteries, brakes, shock absorbers and other parts drivers need as vehicles get older and move out of warranty.  Today, the aftermarket contributes roughly a third of group revenue. Longer term, Metair wants the split between supplying manufacturers and the aftermarket to move closer to 50/50.

Management also sees potential in supplying new manufacturers entering South Africa and expanding further into the rest of Africa. There’s plenty more behind each of those plans - including AutoZone, Metair’s exposure to changing vehicle production in South Africa, the European Commission fine involving Rombat, and what management thinks needs to happen next.

Rather than squeeze all of that into one very long blog, we’ll let Paul and Alastair explain it themselves.

Watch our full conversation with Metair CEO Paul O’Flaherty and CFO Alastair Walker for the story behind the numbers, the questions from EasyEquities investors, and what management says shareholders should be watching next.

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