South Africa's Capitec Bank reports 16% rise in headline earnings to R10.6 billion in FY2024

Capitec Bank Holdings reported on 23 April 2024 that headline earnings rose 16% to R10.6 billion for the financial year ended 29 February 2024, up from a restated R9.2 billion a year earlier. Headline earnings per share increased 16% to 9,171 cents.

Headline earnings for the six months to February 2024 rose 25% to R5.9 billion compared with R4.7 billion in the six months to August 2023.

“Our long-term strategy to diversify our income streams and grow quality clients produced double-digit growth in a financial year where external economic events placed pressure on our credit business,” Capitec said in its results commentary.

CLIENT AND DIGITAL GROWTH

Non-interest income made a significant contribution to earnings growth and rose to 72% of income from operations after credit impairments, from 66% a year earlier. Retail bank active clients grew to 22 million from 19.9 million, of whom 11.2 million use the banking app, compared with 9.4 million in 2023. Fully banked clients increased to 7.8 million from 6.9 million, and the number of clients using value-added services grew 17% to 9.8 million. A total of 4.6 million unique digital clients used Capitec Pay.

CREDIT PROVISIONS RISE

The retail bank's gross loans and advances increased 2% to R83.8 billion, while the provision for expected credit losses grew from R18.8 billion to R21.4 billion. The stage 3 loan book rose to R22.3 billion from R18.5 billion, and the total coverage ratio increased to 25.5% from 22.9%.

Capitec also reported that the South African Reserve Bank had on 11 March 2024 approved a transaction to increase its shareholding in Avafin Holdings, an international online consumer lending group, from 40.66% to 97.69% for EUR26.3 million. All required regulatory approvals had been obtained by 15 April 2024.