PERSISTENT GROWTH
Capitec closes in on 10-million customers
A whipsaw two months on the stock market and the attention of activist short-sellers Viceroy Research has not stopped South Africans from opening Capitec accounts. The bank is expecting to top 10-million active accounts by the end of March, helping it close in on Standard Bank as the largest retail franchise in SA. That is no small deal for a bank that thought its limit was 5-million customers when it opened its doors in 2000. Customer growth helped drive an 18% rise in headline earnings for the year to end-February, to R38.58 a share, an 18% increase in the dividend, to R14.70, and return on equity of 27%. Net transaction fee income climbed 31% over the period, to R5.1bn — fees on bank accounts and not loans now account for 41% of total net income. The ratio of fees to operating expenses has moved up to 81%, from 72% in 2017, and Capitec’s goal is to cover all operating costs with transaction fees by 2022. That implies persistent growth in attracting new customers, even as Capitec’...
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