In economic downturns one would expect low-income earners to be the hardest hit since they have little in the way of a financial buffer.

But looking at some companies’ financial results, one begins to understand just how resilient that part of the population is. Last week Momentum (https://www.sharenet.co.za/v3/quickshare.php?scode=MTM) attributed it to low-income households being more careful about their spending.

Companies that pay attention to what poorer households really need are being rewarded for their resilience. A case in point is Transaction Capital (https://www.sharenet.co.za/v3/quickshare.php?scode=TCP)’s SA Taxi business, the company that finances most minibus taxis on SA’s roads...