Welcome to Lesaka Tech's Results Webcast for the Fourth Quarter of Fiscal 2025. As a reminder, the webcast is being recorded. Management will address any questions you may have at the end of the presentation. [Operator Instructions] . Our results press release and investor presentation are available on our Investor Relations website at ir.lesakatech.com. During this call, we will be making forward-looking statements. I ask you to look at the cautionary language contained in our press release, Form 8-K and results presentation regarding the risks and uncertainties associated with forward-looking statements. As a domestic filer in the United States, we report results in U.S. dollars under U.S. GAAP. However, it is important to note that our operational currency is South African rand, and as such, we analyze our performance in South African rand, which is non-GAAP. This assists investors in understanding the underlying trends in our business. I will now turn the webcast over to Ali.

[Audio Gap] welcome. FY 2025 has been a strong year for Lesaka. From a financial performance perspective, we finished the year with net revenue of ZAR 5.3 billion and EBITDA of ZAR 922 million, in line with our guidance for the year. Our adjusted earnings for the year of ZAR 186 million was up substantially from ZAR 51 million last year and resulted in adjusted earnings per share growing from ZAR 0.80 to ZAR 2.29. From a balance sheet perspective, in March 2025, we refinanced our existing debt facilities and expanded our banking relationships to include both RMB and Investec. Our gross debt increased as we raised debt to fund acquisitions. And accordingly, our net debt to group adjusted EBITDA increased to 2.9x if we use 12-month trailing EBITDA. However, if we annualize Q4 adjusted EBITDA, this would be 2.2x, approaching our target of less than 2x leverage ratio. From an M&A perspective, in October 2024, we completed the ZAR 1.7 billion acquisition of Adumo. In March 2025, we completed the ZAR 507 million acquisition of Recharger. In June 2025, we announced the ZAR 1.1 billion acquisition of Bank Zero, and we sold our entire stake in MobiKwik for ZAR 290 million. From a people perspective, we have augmented our executive team, launched our graduate recruitment program and implemented our employee share ownership plan. We strive to be the employer of choice for those driven by mission and purpose. From a stakeholder engagement perspective, in January 2025, we launched the Association of South African payment providers with Lincoln Mali assuming the association's presidency to work in closer collaboration with regulators and industry stakeholders. In March 2025, we held our first Investor Day to better explain our business and the opportunity to the investor community. Our 3 business units are at…

Thank you, Ali, and good day, everyone. As Ali has highlighted, Lesaka is going through a period of significant transformation, marked by strategic acquisitions, balance sheet optimization and internal restructuring as we continue to build out a fintech platform. Despite it being a very busy period in evolution, we have consistently delivered on our guidance. This quarter marks our 12th consecutive period of meeting profitability guidance, underscoring the consistency and reliability of the execution of our strategy. This quarter reflects strong financial momentum with positive contributions to both net revenue and profitability from all 3 of our divisions. Our Consumer division delivered another excellent quarter with robust growth in both top line and bottom line performance. In our Merchant division, we accelerated the integration of our micro merchant and merchant businesses as we build an integrated multiproduct platform, serving merchants of all sizes. This includes the unification of our brands under a single Lesaka identity. Some of these actions has resulted in reorganization costs being incurred as well as additional intangible amortization charges as we shortened the deemed useful lives of some of our brands. In our Enterprise division, it's been a year of build. We've refreshed our strategy, refined our core product offering and realigned the business. These changes incurred once-off reorganization costs, but Q4 now reflects the fully scaled up Enterprise division aligned with a new strategic direction. Pleasingly, the strong performance of the recently acquired Recharger business has come through for a full quarter for the first time, leading to a growing overall contribution from our Enterprise division. We completed the disposal of our major noncore asset, MobiKwik, for ZAR 290 million with the proceeds received at the end of June. These funds have been included in our cash balances and used to partially offset our debt,…

Thank you, Dan. When we announced the acquisition of Connect in 2022, which included offerings for small to medium merchants and micro merchants under the Kazang brand, we outlined a clear vision, one that remains unchanged today. In setting this vision, the opportunity presented included the inevitable digitization of South Africa's economy driven by secular trends and solving for the pain points of under-serviced merchants in Southern Africa. We set out to build an integrated multiproduct platform serving merchants of all sizes, ranging from micro merchants to small to medium merchants. We've been involved for 3 years and during that time, we've made significant progress in executing on this vision. The division has scaled organically and through acquisitions, product integration and cross-selling. The merchants we serve face challenges that extend well beyond accepting card payments. Our goal is to provide comprehensive solutions that help them manage their finances, operate their businesses more efficiently and ultimately succeed. We strive to build multiproduct relationships. The more services we layer, the more value we create for our merchants and the more efficient and scalable our merchant platform becomes as we integrate our tech stack. Our growth strategy remains balanced between organic initiatives and inorganic initiatives being strategic acquisitions, each designed to deepen our customer base or expand our product set as we build a scalable fintech platform. In a competitive landscape where banks, retailers and MNOs are all buying for merchant engagement, we believe Lesaka stands apart. Our comprehensive product suite spends both the formal and informal merchant sectors, giving us a differentiated value proposition with the ability to execute at scale. We are still in the early stages of our journey, but we've reached a pivotal point in the evolution of our merchant division. Let me walk you through our four key…

Thank you, Steve. I want to take a moment to recap what has been an extremely busy and rewarding year for the consumer team. Through a combination of innovation and disciplined execution, we've seen several strategic developments that have significantly strengthened our position. Our unwavering focus and relentless commitment have driven the continued increase in our market share within the grant beneficial market. This translated into 35% revenue growth and an 83% increase in EBITDA for this division for financial year 2025. These results are a testament to the team's dedication and strategic clarity. And they have set a strong foundation for sustained success going forward. We launched Bonngwe at the start of the financial year. Bonngwe is our sales front engine and offers our service consultants a comprehensive view of each consumer enabling them to deliver a significantly improved service to our existing clients, supporting cross-sell efforts for lending, insurance and ADP while assisting with sign-up and onboarding new EPE customers. Bonngwe has equipped our frontline staff with the tools to serve consumers efficiently and has achieved excellent results. In our lending business, after thorough research into our consumers' financial needs and borrowing habits, we introduced a revised loan product that has been very well received. Consumers often resorted to unregulated lenders. So we increased our maximum loan amount and extended repayment terms. We did not alter our lending criteria during this process. We also completely rebuilt the lending system. It's more customer-friendly, scalable and allows us to better manage risk. Many of our consumers have taken advantage of the new lending product positively contributing to higher ARPUs. We have invested in our distribution capabilities, both talent and infrastructure. We've expanded our frontline teams and plan to open 50 new branches in financial year 2026 and add 50 branded…

Good day, everyone, and thank you, Lincoln. Today, I'm excited to share the latest developments, key performance indicators and strategic direction for Enterprise division as we close out fiscal year 2025. Let's begin by reflecting on some of the major milestones and key developments from this quarter and fiscal year 2025. This fiscal year has been transformative for our Enterprise division as we developed a much clearer business and strategy. There have been material developments relating to channel expansion, technology updates, inorganic strategy and business reorganization. First, we made significant strides in expanding distribution channels for our Alternative Digital Payments or ADP solutions. We are now integrated and successfully went live with Standard Bank, Nedbank and Shoprite to provide ADP solutions. This expansion helps us further gain market share by embedding our services within trusted enterprise environment. Second, we completed the acquisition of electricity private utility business, Recharger and are well underway with the migration of the meter hosting infrastructure into our proprietary Enterprise technologies. This acquisition strengthens our utilities vertical and demonstrates our ongoing commitment to integrating and scaling high-value infrastructure. Third, we began the migration of the merchant acquiring volumes that have traditionally been processed through third-party providers. This strategic move will allow us to have tighter control over processing and is expected to deliver a full volume migration over the course of FY '26. Lastly, we executed the shutdown of legacy business units, sharpening our focus on our core product offering. It's important to note that this reorganization led to one-off costs of ZAR 17 million. However, this step positions us for sustainable focused growth in the years ahead. I will briefly take you through each business vertical within our enterprise business, outlining the solution and the revenue model. Our Alternative Digital Payments, or ADP business is…

Thanks, Naeem. We go into FY 2026, excited at the prospects for our business. Clearly, one of the most significant events for the company is the expected completion of the Bank Zero transaction, which we signed at the end of this past financial year. Bank Zero is a South African neobank with a modern proprietary scalable technology stack with a very efficient cost structure that relies on digital onboarding. We do not believe there is a more efficient banking operation in the country nor one that has less third-party dependencies on its platform that is primed for growth. This transaction is, in fact, more an augmentation of capabilities and team than an acquisition, in that the purchase consideration is predominantly being settled in Lesaka shares, and the Bank Zero team will be joining Lesaka. They saw an ability for us to accelerate their growth given our distribution and complementary product offering, just as we see their ability to accelerate ours. It is an exceptional, experienced and entrepreneurial team who share our desire to change the game and better serve consumers and merchants in our country. I've had the personal fortune of working with several members of the team in the past, and it is a delight to have the opportunity to do so again. We look forward to welcoming Michael Jordaan, former CEO of FNB to the Board; and [ Yatin Narsai, former CEO of Retail Banking at FNB to our executive leadership. The size of the prize is big. I think it's easiest to think of the rationale for the transaction in three buckets. Firstly, the [indiscernible] this is both in terms of the product we can offer and the cost. In terms of product, it should reduce dependencies on third parties, improve our responsiveness to clients, increase availability,…

[Operator Instructions] We have our first question on the conference call line. Please, can we open up for Theo O'Neill from LHR.

A couple of questions. First question on the Consumer division. It looks like you have a full plate of growth opportunities, and I was wondering if you could rank or talk about the near-term opportunity between your three core products and overall market share and maybe rank where you think the strength will be in near-term?

Thanks. This is Lincoln. Firstly, the most important thing for us is always account growth. We have taken more market share from the Post Bank migration. We've taken the largest chunk than our natural market share. We've taken about 20% of those customers that are migrating. So we think that's important for us. We have also launched our lending product. We see a lot of room for that, and we think that, that's an important one. And the third one is us growing beyond our EPE based on our insurance. There's about 4 million customers who don't have access to funeral plans who are grant beneficiaries. We see that opportunity. So we see ourselves growing within this space. And of course, in the medium-term, we do see opportunities when the Bank Zero transaction has been consummated for us to give more opportunities beyond just the grant space. So that's the way we would like to think of our business and the growth opportunities we see.

Anything else from your side Theo?

Yes. I wanted to ask the same question on the Enterprise side. If you could rank or talk about the near-term growth expectations there across the core products and market share?

Theo, as you mentioned, for the Enterprise division, this was a transition year. We invested significantly in the platform. We've also grown our distribution network and we've now fully integrated the Recharger business. As I've mentioned during my script, if you look at the last quarter, the run rate of around group adjusted EBITDA of about ZAR 30 million is what we want to build on. And we're also looking at the Enterprise division will be contributing north of 10% of the guidance forecast that Ali provided for the full year.

We have another call -- another question from the Chorus Call line. This time, it's from [ Ross Krieger ] at Investec Securities.

Hello, everyone. Can you hear me, okay?

We can hear you well. Thank you, Ross.

Okay. Great. I have quite a few questions. Sorry, just bear with me. Just maybe I'll split -- I'll go one at a time. The first one is a 2-part question just on the pending Bank Zero acquisition. I'm just wondering, so on 2 points here on the first, the integration of Bank Zero, I'm just wondering how you see that playing out in terms of the time it takes to integrate and the cost incurred in doing that? And then secondly, just regard -- regarding the expectation that there will be a profitable contribution in year 1, is that net of all the factors that you mentioned earlier on the call? Or was that as a stand-alone entity? Yes, let me pause there.

Thanks, Ross. I mean on the integration, if I can ask Steven to chat too. On the profitability, Ross, obviously, we don't know exactly when the transaction will complete. But my belief is that certainly, if the business is not profitable at the time of completion, it will be close to and with synergies that can be easily and quickly realized it will be. So I don't think there'll be a material gap. That's excluding the more material, I suppose, revenue opportunities that were touched on in the presentation. On the integration, Steve?

From an integration perspective, we've got very detailed plans, which we're busy working on and we will be ready on the day the transaction close to affect those integration plans. Clearly, we'll be putting the aspects of our consumer and merchant businesses that are engaged in banking activities into the bank. It won't change the way we ultimately report in terms of consumer and merchant. But the integration aspects are well planned. And we think in the end, this is a business, I think we are taking on about 45 people. So it's very easily integratable. From a culture perspective, I think we're very well aligned. And to a large extent, much of what we are getting with Bank Zero is a part of the platform that we don't have. So it's complementary to what we do and very easy to integrate.

Thank you, Steve. Ross, do you want to shoot with your next question?

Thanks both. Okay. Just on the goodwill impairment, I was just hoping to get a bit more detail on the -- I understand the different moving parts there. And that is noncash. But just on the CGUs impacted, just wondering what those were, if you can give any more detail on that and the reasons behind that?

So, goodwill, Ross, as you know, is obviously a very large number in our balance sheet, roughly $200 million, ZAR 3.5 billion. And it comprises basically the excess of the price we paid relative to the fair value of the underlying assets, both tangible and intangible that we acquired. When we bought the business, as I put them into the buckets, the Connect Group and the Adumo Group and the Recharger Group. Obviously, as integrated groups, they had a number of underlying businesses or cash-generating units. As we go through our impairment tests, we need to value each and every one of those cash-generating units. So I'll use, for example, Adumo, we bought one Adumo Group. But in effect, we've got seven different CGUs. So as we've been iterating the businesses, the business models within those combined seven has obviously given rise to an expectation of different levels of cash flows from each of those underlying seven different business units. When we run our goodwill impairment tests, some of those then have ended up with a lower carrying value than what we originally described for that specific CGU when we bought it, giving rise to then a handful of impairments of roughly ZAR 300 million in aggregate. The flip side of that is, obviously, some of the other underlying CGUs, our valuations have increased. But in terms of the accounting standards, we can't write up goodwill from over and above what we acquired at, but we are required to write down. So when I take them in aggregate, the businesses we bought, very comfortable that the valuations have appreciated but some of my parts in effect, don't equal whole from a goodwill impairment perspective. Maybe give you one specific example would be around our ME business, where we have iterated the business model, exiting some of the unprofitable lines. That obviously is a different view we had on the business and when we acquired it. And of course, when I run it through a DCF cash flow, that then gives rise to necessity for an impairment. I use it as a specific example. When I look across the whole chain, there's a number of these instances, which give rise to the combined impairment of just over ZAR 300 million.

Thank you, Dan. Ross, does that answer your question?

Yes. Thanks, Dan. That's helpful. Moving on, just -- look, I know you've been very clear in your Capital Markets Day and today in general, about your competitive advantages. But just in light of Nedbank's acquisition of [ Ecokar ], I think first [indiscernible] today flagging their success so far in the SME space and the intention to keep pushing there. Just an update on the competitive environment in general would be helpful.

So I mean maybe I'll start, if it's relating specifically to the SME environment, I'll also ask Steve afterwards for his thoughts. The first thing is, I think -- it's a recognition of the opportunity that exists in the market that multiple parties are highlighting it. I think we should be slightly concerned if it wasn't acknowledged that this is clearly a material growth vector in our country and indeed in our region, and that's why we are positioned for it. So I think that if you're attracting a big opportunity, you should expect that other parties will also participate in that. I also think that more than one party will succeed in addressing that opportunity. And I think that, that's good. There can also be mutually beneficial outcomes. As a business, we're not focused on trying to maximize our share of the pie. I think we are very focused on trying to increase the pie by providing customers with better solutions than exists today by innovating, by creating opportunity and not fighting over a legacy profit pool. And so we can work effectively with other parties in that respect. I think we do have specific differential features associated with how we engage in the merchant business specifically, we are focused on businesses that are not seeking a single product solution. We are focused on businesses, for example, in the micro merchant space, on the informal space where we connect a collection of solutions, alternative digital payments, cash needs, supply payments needs with the merchant acquiring. So you registered, for example, [ Ecoka ] as a business aspect to Nedbank. It's a narrower subset of offering. And in the more formal space, again, we are very focused on the integrated solutions. Specifically also through our software business in GAAP. And we think that we are irregular as a business in the breadth of offering that we can provide for those segments. And ultimately, we are also regular in that while we are a technology-first business, we have our own distribution channel dedicated to those customer needs. So we differentiate ourselves in those ways. I think as we've discussed in the investor presentation. And we welcome other businesses, engaging with our customers to help us better serve those customers.

Okay. Is that it guys from your side on that?

So I think the only thing that I would add possibly is that, as Ali said, first of all, it endorses our thesis, which is the interest in the segment endorses why we've positioned ourselves there. And the other point I would simply make is that we are not a proxy for the market. We are an insurgent. We have a very small market share, a substantial TAM and so we have the ability to grow significantly based on our current positioning.

Thanks, Steve. Ross, any further questions?

Just on the last one, just on the regulatory developments. I was wondering if there's anything on the horizon through ASAPP engagements or anything -- any other channels that we should be aware of in terms of the other beneficial regulatory developments?

Thanks so much, Ross. We have had an engagement with the Reserve Bank where they had published the draft exemption to the bank's act. We, through ASAPP gave comprehensive feedback and comments. And the essence of the comments were to make sure that the regulator doesn't create many banks, doesn't create more onerous requirements to the industry and create an environment for more competition and more innovation. The Reserve Bank convened, a few weeks ago, a session where they reported back, and there was a positive sentiment from the ASAPP members that there was positive movement that has been done that they've heard a lot of the sentiments that were coming from the fintech community. We are now waiting for something in the next few weeks where the final proposal will come out. So we are waiting with bated breath to see what that indications will be. Obviously, we still have other engagements that we've made on other issues like the governance of the sector and meaningful participation by fintechs and we've also made representations on an interchange. So we're still waiting for feedback on those. But on the broad opening up of the payment system, directionally, it looks like the Reserve Bank is going in the right direction.

Ross, does that answer the question? Anything else? Or we're good...

Yes. Thanks, Lincoln. It does. Thanks, everyone. Appreciate your time. All the best.

I'm going to take the last question from the conference call, and then we'll move to the questions on the webcast. The next question is from Mike Steere at Avior Capital Markets.

Can you hear me all right?

Yes.

I have a few. I think I'll just read them all out at once, and then happy to repeat if necessary. So firstly, in light of the recent Cell C news, how does the restructuring effect Lesaka's current 5% shareholding. Are you supportive of the restructuring? And do you see any benefit accruing to the group if the restructuring and listing is successful, and there is a subsequent revaluation of that business? Next one is just around the Shoprite disruption now that they've entered the banking sector. Just any color on how you perceive this -- how you perceive this threat and how you plan on coming out on top in this competitive environment? And then finally, a strong quarter, but please maybe unpack the impairments and PPA acceleration in a bit more detail. I understand these are noncash items, but so we got to understand how much more is to come? I think you mentioned ZAR 160 million next year. But is there any anticipated increase to this number following that the Bank Zero acquisition?

All right. Thanks. Okay. So three topics, Cell C, Shoprite and PPA. On Cell C, I know, Dan, do you want to talk to briefly?

Sure, Ali. See, it's -- we currently hold a 5% stake in Cell C. We've all seen the public announcements and the path towards IPO, towards the back end of this calendar year. Are we supportive? Well, we're engaging in the underlying detail around those respective conversion steps. We currently carry the stake in our books at a zero valuation. So of course, we'd be absolutely delighted to see the Cell C IPO get away and be able to then carry our investment in Cell C at whatever the market deems as the appropriate market valuation once listed. We, of course, need to make sure that we do preserve our rights and our valuation -- the potential valuation of our stake. And so we'll obviously work through the broader restructuring details with both Cell C management team and obviously, the sponsors.

Okay. On the Shoprite thing, I mean, I think as Steven referred to in the consumer business space, we're coming from a very low base, very low market share. Relatively Shoprite, launching their proposition, I think, has -- is another of many entrants into the market, and there's much bigger players today in the market who also have strategic relationships with them. I don't think that we see anything other than as an opportunity to continue to ensure that what we are providing for our customers meets their expectations, focus on the differentiation that we offer. We have a different distribution model. We have specific focal areas, which are distinct from theirs. We also have good collaborations with them. And I don't expect that to change through their banking offering. I don't know, Lincoln, if you have anything to add there?

Yes. Just to again echo what Ali and Steve had said, again, this is another indication of a segment of the market that we've chosen on the consumer side, that other players are trying to come in there. Secondly, to also echo something else that Ali and Steve said that in certain of these environments, we're going to compete. But on some of these things, we will collaborate and we have some collaborations with Shoprite, but I think the main point is that we're clear about what we offer. And we offer a much more comprehensive solution than other players in this specific market. We offer transactional account. We are offering lending proposition, offering insurance and we offer Alternative Digital Products. And so we think that we have a comprehensive proposition and that's what we will offer to our clients. And we've got a unique distribution model for that customer base. So we will continue to do what we do and try and win the support of our customers.

I think ultimately, our principal competitor is always going to be inefficiency. Our principal competitor is always going to be what we are capable of delivering for our customers rather than other parties. And as long as we maintain that as our access and our true north, I think we'll continue to be successful. I think when other businesses are there, we can learn, and that is helpful. but it shouldn't be our focus. The third question you asked was on the PPA. I think there was quite a lot that was provided before. I don't know, Dan, if there's anything you want to add to what you did before?

Happy to recap the principles around PPA...

Mike, is there anything specific that would be helpful?

I think you actually did capture it [indiscernible]. No worries. Yes, that's all from my side. And thanks for the opportunity to ask questions, and congrats on the results.

Thanks, Mike. Appreciate it, and thank you for the questions.

I'm going to move to the questions. We've got 10 minutes left. There are four questions on the webcast chat. So let me start with the first one. It's from Viwe Kupiso at RMB Morgan Stanley. The question is -- and I'm going to break this question into parts because there's four aspects to it. First one, what are the main risks to achieving greater than 100% growth in EPS and achieving positive net income in FY '26, especially given the macroeconomic environment? That's the first question. Should we go with that first?

Yes, sure. Let's take that first. I mean, what I'd say is, again, we're not a proxy for the macroeconomic environment. I think we are positioning ourselves where there's tailwinds and the digitization of society and serving the underserved. But ultimately, I think our growth represents the fact that clearly, we have a different trajectory. We've been consistent in our ability to deliver on our profitability guidance as I think was mentioned in the presentation, over 12 consecutive quarters, and we have every expectation to continue to do so. When we set the EPS guidance with a minimum bound, which means that clearly, we have an expectation of exceeding that, the same with the net profit guidance. So we have every expectation that we will do that. If you're asking where would I be concerned? We obviously can always be subject to exogenous shocks to things that we today don't recognize or don't see and this can come in different contexts. I think you could also have potentially certain noncash impairments like we have experienced through the integration process of our merchant business. But on the flip side, there's other things that could positively impact, for example, there was the mention of our position in Cell C, which we value at 0. So we are certainly very, very hopeful that when we have this conversation in a year's time, it is by exceeding those targets.

Thanks, Ali. The next part of Viwe's question is, what are the current trends in credit quality and loss rates in both the consumer and merchant lending books? Are you seeing any warning -- early warning signs of stress?

I think on the consumer, I'll go to Lincoln and then maybe, Steve, on the merchant.

We have not seen any stress in the quality of our book. We have had the same loan loss ratio of below 6%. We monitor that book very, very closely. And even with the changes that we've made, we've not seen any change in the quality of the book. And we think that the changes we've made, which is a longer term from 6 to 9 months, more from 2,000 to 4,000, all of that augurs well for the quality of the book forward. So we don't see any of the things that are happening in the economy directly translating into a change or deteriorating of quality in that book.

From the merchant perspective, likewise, for the year that we've just had, our impairment ratios are sitting at about 1.4% of all originated debt, which is pretty consistent with the history. If anything, we are starting to see a slight improvement, it feels like some of the stress in the SME space is coming off. And I think our biggest challenge is really focusing more on getting the origination and scaling into those -- into the space. But impairments is certainly not an issue for us at this point.

Anything else, guys, on that one? Okay. I've got -- we can -- we have time for two last questions. The first one is from [ Frank Yang ] at [ Brywood ]. Some strong guidance provided here please unpack your FY '26 guidance drivers speaking specifically to each of the divisions and please confirm that it excludes Bank Zero.

Thanks, Frank. So yes, it excludes Bank Zero. And obviously, once that regulatory approval happens in the transaction, hopefully completes, we will have to reassess. But we don't have an expectation that it would materially impact FY '26. In terms of the guidance, I mean, the EBITDA at the midpoint of the range guidance that we provided is a 46% year-on-year growth. Clearly, you can't grow at that rate without there being growth, I think, through all three, frankly, of the pillars of our business: Consumer, Enterprise and Merchant. And our expectation is that all of those pillars, they will grow at different rates, but certainly north of 20% in each case and in some instances, materially more than that. I don't know if the guys want to mention any of the particular dynamics in the Consumer, Merchant, Enterprise business, but I think we don't break down the specific segment growth. The general principle, I would say is that in each context, we have a driver associated with the number of consumers in the consumer business and the ARPU. In our consumer business, we expect both the consumer base continue to increase as we take share and the ARPU to continue to increase as we cross-sell. In the Merchant business, likewise, we expect to see growth in our merchant base as our value proposition is distinctive. And we expect to see the growth in our ARPU as we cross-sell increasingly the products through the integration of those businesses. And in the Enterprise business, where the drivers is really processed volume and a take rate. We have seen material contract wins over the course of this last quarter. And so we expect to see the growth in volumes attributable to that. And the take rate, we expect to also be increasing through the mix effect as our utility business is growing the fastest and it has a higher margin, relatively speaking to the ADP business. So on each of the key KPIs against each of the key segments, we expect to see good growth, leading in the aggregate to the midpoint of the growth that we've articulated. I'd say, maybe just as a final point, as a business, we actually have an enormous amount of resilience in terms of the contributions. We have these three segments, all of which are pointing in the right direction and each of which has a number of customers, our Consumer business, close to 2 million end customers. Our Merchant business north of 100,000 customers and our Enterprise business also a material footprint in terms of customer base. So we don't have single points of dependency in that respect.

And then the last question for today and for the people whose questions we didn't get to, I will respond to you separately after the call. I'm going to take a question from Craig Smith at Anchor Securities. Thank you for your time today. Exciting transaction, so I presume you're referring to Bank Zero. What is still required for the transaction to close? And what is the expected timing on this? Any updates you can provide. He then asks, does this transaction mean that Lesaka is now becoming a bank? And how quickly can we expect the Consumer and Merchant loan books to move across to Bank Zero and retire the ZAR 1 billion of gross debt?

So I'll let Steve talk to the completion time line. But just on the specific point of Lesaka becoming a bank. So I think -- I don't think we're becoming a bank any more than we've become an insurance company. We have an insurance business, which is a subsidiary, and that helps provide insurance propositions to our customers. I think having a bank as a subsidiary of part of the group will help enable us to provide consumers and merchants with better solutions. But as the transaction structure is the bank as a subsidiary of Lesaka Technologies. I don't know, Steven, if you want to talk to the time lines or?

Just in terms of time lines, we -- clearly, the transaction is subject to PA approval and also competition commission approval. We have finserv approval, but from a time line perspective, we are hopeful that by the end of March, April, we should be in a position that the transaction goes unconditional. But we're factoring that we expect this transaction to close before June '26. If I can just say, we're incredibly excited about this acquisition. As I mentioned earlier, we'll be integrating our issuing business and our credit businesses into the banking business. This is a well-engineered neobank. We are excited not just about the synergies that will flow from this transaction, but also some of the very creative organic strategies that sit within the bank. In terms of funding the loan books that currently sit within our consumer business and our merchant business, the answer to that question will be as quickly as we possibly can. And to a larger extent, it will depend on the size of the deposit book when the transaction closes. We do anticipate though that the majority will be able to be exercised when the deal closes and the rest is just a timing difference as we grow the retail deposit base.

I think that's it in terms of time. If anyone has additional questions, please reach out to me. Thank you for listening today, and thank you to the team.