Latest news with #GerrieFourie
Zawya
24-04-2025
- Business
- Zawya
South Africa: Diversification of services sees Capitec grow headline earnings by 30%
Despite a challenging economic climate, digital bank Capitec, for the financial year ending 28 February 2025, reported a 30% increase in headline earnings to R13.7bn. Capitec has, for the financial year ending 28 February 2025, reported a 30% increase in headline earnings to R13.7bn. Gerrie Fourie, chief executive officer of Capitec attributes this to the bank's solid foundations for long-term growth, powered by its scalable technology and diversified business model Personal banking now constitutes 45% of total earnings, insurance accounts for 25%, strategic initiatives (VAS and Capitec Connect) contribute 23%, business banking makes up 5%, and AvaFin (consolidated from 1 May 2024) adds 2%. It attributes this to its diversification of services over the past five years which include the introduction of business banking, value-added services (VAS), Capitec Connect, and insurance under its own insurance licence as well as its integrated digital ecosystem. As a result, the bank's active client base now exceeds 24 million. Capitec's strategic focus on value-added services (VAS) and the Capitec Connect mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) has delivered exceptional results, providing significant client value and convenience. Their combined net income surged by 61% to R4.4bn. Growth in airtime and data Over 11 million clients now utilise the Capitec app to purchase airtime, data, electricity, vouchers, and to pay bills. The bank captures over 40% of South Africa's airtime and data transactions, and one in five digital vehicle licence renewals now occur on its platform, saving clients both time and money. Capitec Connect has expanded its unique value proposition beyond the original no-expiry bundle to include highly competitive 1-, 7-, and 30-day validity options, which now account for over 60% of sales. Active SIM subscribers have grown by 74% to 1.6 million, demonstrating the appeal of its simplified, affordable data offering integrated within the banking ecosystem. Data usage has surpassed 13.4 petabytes, contributing R193m in net income. Digital payments continue to accelerate The shift to digital payments continues to accelerate. Card payments at tills and online have risen by 18% to more than 2.4 billion transactions, while cash transaction volumes have increased by only 3%. E-commerce transactions, including those via Capitec Pay, surged by 47% to 488 million. More than 1 million clients are now actively using their Capitec cards through digital wallets such as Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Samsung Pay. Capitec has also launched a new International Payments solution on the app, enabling fast and affordable payments to over 50 countries in 13 currencies, for a fixed fee of R175, with funds reflecting within hours. Meanwhile, new purpose credit solutions are helping clients fund vehicles, education, and home improvements through more than 27,000 partner locations. Credit sales to clients earning over R50,000 a month grew 56%, as the bank introduced personalised in-app offers, secured home loans, youth credit cards, and repay-as-you-earn loans for side hustlers and freelancers. Insurance records rapid growth Operating under its licence, Capitec Life now manages over 3.3 million active funeral and life cover policies, insuring 15 million lives and contributing R1.9bn in net insurance income to the group. Since May 2024, the bank has added in excess of 600,000 active funeral and life cover policies on its own licence. New business Active business clients increased to 218,207 (up 15%), forex transactions grew by 92%, and scored loan balances rose by 111% to R1.3bn. Capitec's merchant commerce strategy involved selling new smart card machines outright rather than renting them, and providing the most competitive commission rates, which has helped grow the number of active trading merchants by 124% to 63,000, with a total annual turnover of R64bn. This simplified approach, along with newly reduced and transparent pricing, has saved businesses R289m in banking fees over the past year alone. A focus on education Capitec's broader impact also includes significant contributions to financial education and social upliftment. Through the Capitec Foundation, more than 21,000 learners, educators, and school leaders benefited from improved maths education programmes. Additionally, 4,000 employee volunteers partnered with nonprofits to deliver 345 initiatives that reached over 27,000 learners. Capitec's MoneyUp Academy and WhatsApp learning bot have delivered 1.6 million lessons, further driving financial literacy across the country. Solid foundations for long-term growth Gerrie Fourie, chief executive officer of Capitec says, 'We have laid solid foundations for long-term growth, powered by our scalable technology and diversified business model. 'We will continue to invest in technology and data to deepen our client knowledge and refine our offerings, ensuring each part of our ecosystem delivers distinct value. 'Key future initiatives involve the continued development of our integrated ecosystem, enhancing our payment capabilities, and growing our business banking and insurance businesses. 'We remain passionate about making a meaningful difference and helping our clients and the South African economy grow.' Fourie asserts that the results represent more than mere numbers - they signify progress in transforming lives. 'We have always believed that banking should be simple, affordable, accessible, and personal. These results demonstrate that we are achieving just that. 'Through our high-volume, low-margin business model, we are enabling everyone to access solutions that allow them to take control of their finances, protect their families, manage businesses, and unlock opportunities. 'Our purpose-driven strategy is helping us scale sustainably and, most importantly, it is assisting 24 million South Africans to grow every day.'
The Citizen
24-04-2025
- Business
- The Citizen
Capitec captures high-earners: 27% growth in clients earning R50 000+ monthly
The growth in higher-income clients is a 'highlight' in the lender's results, an analyst says. JSE-listed Capitec is shaking off its image as a lender for lower-income depositors with a 26.5% jump in clients earning R50 000 per month and higher in the past financial year. Group CEO Gerrie Fourie announced the results for the year ended 28 February 2025 on Wednesday at Capitec's head office in Stellenbosch – his last results presentation before his retirement in July this year. Founded in 2001, the lender initially focused on providing affordable and accessible banking services for low-income South Africans. Capitec has since diversified its product offering to insurance, business banking, and value-added services such as cellphone airtime and vouchers for streaming services. The bank has expanded its client base to over 24 million, with Fourie anticipating it will reach 25 million in the current financial year. Capitec's new sales to clients who earn more than R50 000 per month totalled R10.2 million in the past financial year. 'The trick is to take those clients and, when they're 50 and 60 years old, make sure they're still banking with us,' Fourie noted. Craig Metherell, equity analyst at Denker Capital, told Moneyweb that Capitec's growth among high-income earners is one of the 'most striking things' in the results. 'I thought that was a real highlight. The wallet that a high-income earner brings to the bank – and the type of products Capitec could cross-sell to them – speak to the kind of ecosystem Capitec wants to create. I expect some of these clients will also open bank accounts for their children who may not yet transact, but they have the potential to grow older with Capitec. 'There's a very exciting 20 to 30 years coming up for them, because you can lock in these young clients from when they are teenagers and build a relationship with them.' ALSO READ: Standard Bank and Capitec shake up leadership; Absa spends R165m on 11 people Expanded home loan offering Fourie also announced on Wednesday that Capitec will launch a secured home loan product in the middle of the year through a special purpose vehicle (SPV) with SA Home Loans, funded with R5 billion. In an interview with Moneyweb following the results announcement, he explained that Capitec and SA Home Loans will combine their respective credit models to scale the mortgage offering. Although Capitec launched its partnership with SA Home Loans in November 2020, the mortgages have been solely on the SA Home Loans balance sheet. Fourie said SA Home Loans lacks sufficient funding to expand the credit book, but with Capitec's financial support, this growth will be possible. ALSO READ: Capitec hit by R56m Sarb financial penalty Insurance market share Capitec's strategic initiatives for the financial year ahead include taking its insurance offering and business banking 'to the next level', Fourie mentioned at the presentation. Capitec Life's active credit life insurance book totalled 1.1 million policies at the end of the financial year. From November 2024, Capitec issued more than 600 000 funeral insurance policies on its own licence, and at the end of February 2025, there were 96 307 active life cover policies. (Capitec exited its funeral insurance arrangement with Sanlam from 1 November 2024, and Capitec Life took over the administration of the policies issued through the cell captive.) The group launched its first life insurance product in June last year, but the lender intends to expand its market share in life cover. Said Fourie: 'We have 30% market share in funeral insurance, but there are still many opportunities in the life space. Our product offering is still small compared to what insurers like Sanlam, Old Mutual, and Liberty have.' ALSO READ: Black Friday spending: 23 million clients at one bank spent R25.45 billion Share price Capitec's share price surged over 8% on Wednesday afternoon, following the announcement of the group's record earnings, which, according to Fourie, are 'the best he's ever seen'. 'It is particularly pleasing that the growth is across all business segments, and not only in one area,' Fourie said. Denker's Metherell said Capitec's stock performance on the day is a combination of good sentiment in the banking sector and the fact that the lender's results point to strong growth ahead. He pointed out that the recent sell-off in Capitec shares, along with the 'rest of SA Inc', after the Trump administration's tariff announcement, means the stock could have performed even better. *A previous version of this article stated that Capitec now has over 10 million high-earners as clients. This is incorrect and has been amended. This article was republished from Moneyweb. Read the original here.
eNCA
23-04-2025
- Business
- eNCA
Annual headline earning grow 30% to R13.7bn
JOHANNESBURG - Capitec has released it annual results. WATCH | Capitec headline earnings increase by 36% to R6.4bn It reported a 30% increase in headline earnings to R13.7 billion rand, thanks to reasons including the bank's diversification. Outgoing CEO, Gerrie Fourie spoke to eNCA.
IOL News
23-04-2025
- Business
- IOL News
Capitec Bank reports "extraordinary" 30% surge in earnings amid diversification successes
Capitec Bank has reported a 30% increase in headline earnings per share for the year to February 28, 2025, an "extraordinary" result in difficult trading conditions, said its CEO Gerrie Fourie. Image: Supplied Capitec, the digital bank with more than half of South Africa as clients, increased headline earnings 30% to R13.7 billion as its diversification initiatives over recent years started to unlock value for its clients and the bank. The share price surged 7.1% to R3 350.77 on the JSE Wednesday afternoon after the release of the results for the year to February 28, while the JSE All Share Index was only up by 0.28%, which indicated that investors were also optimistic about the bank's prospects. Over the past five years, the bank's journey has included the introduction of business banking, value-added services (VAS), Capitec Connect, and insurance under its own insurance licence. This diversification leveraged the group's active client base, which now exceeds 24 million, with 13 million of the clients actively engaging with their app. CEO Gerrie Fourie said in a presentation that the earnings for the financial year, were 'extraordinary' and the best set of results he had presented for the bank, despite the challenging economic climate. He said in an interview that the bank was currently performing as well as it did at year-end, and he did not foresee, at this stage, any major challenges that might disrupt them achieving another year of double-digit earnings growth. 'We have always believed that banking should be simple, affordable, accessible, and personal. Through our high-volume, low-margin business model, we are enabling everyone to access solutions that allow them to take control of their finances, protect their families, manage businesses, and unlock opportunities,' he said. Looking to the future, he said their strategy would remain in place, at least for the next two to three years, and included delivery on the eco system, establishing a single service platform, becoming a full data-led company, developing more innovative products, growing into further opportunities provided in the insurance, business banking, VAS and Capitec Connect markets, and continuing to build AvaFin, the international online lending business. 'Capitec was primarily recognised for disrupting traditional banking with its simple, affordable Global One account and accessible credit. Building on this foundation… we've embarked on a focused diversification strategy to create a comprehensive financial ecosystem,' Fourie said. Leveraging the bank's strengths to provide value in areas such as credit, insurance, and accessible digital platforms and branches had resulted in increasingly balanced contributions to earnings. Personal banking now constitutes 45% of total earnings, insurance accounts for 25%, strategic initiatives (VAS and Capitec Connect) contribute 23%, business banking makes up 5%, and AvaFin (consolidated from May 1, 2024) adds 2%. Capitec's focus on VAS and the Capitec Connect mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) delivered good results, and their combined net income surged by 61% to R4.4bn. Over 11 million clients now use the Capitec app to purchase airtime, data, electricity, vouchers, and to pay bills. The bank captures over 40% of South Africa's airtime and data transactions, and one in five digital vehicle licence renewals occur on its platform. The shift to digital payments continues to accelerate. Card payments at tills and online had risen 18% to more than 2.4 billion transactions, while cash transaction volumes increased by only 3%. E-commerce transactions, including those via Capitec Pay, surged by 47% to 488 million. More than 1 million clients were now actively using their Capitec cards through digital wallets such as Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Pay. Capitec had also launched a new International Payments solution on the app, enabling payments to over 50 countries in 13 currencies. Capitec Life manages over 3.3 million active funeral and life cover policies, insuring 15 million lives and contributing R1.9bn in net insurance income to the group. 'Since May 2024, we added in excess of 600 000 active funeral and life cover policies on our own licence. This rapid uptake highlights the appeal of our simplified, affordable insurance products and positions Capitec as potentially the fastest-growing Life Insurer in the country,' he said. Active business bank clients increased to 218 207, up 15%, forex transactions grew by 92% and scored loan balances rose by 111% to R1.3bn. Fourie said credit for SME business clients was now being scored on their cashflow, and he anticipated good further growth in this business. Capitec's merchant commerce strategy involved selling new smart card machines outright rather than renting them, and providing competitive commission rates, which helped grow the number of active trading merchants by 124% to 63 000. 'The transactional data of these trading merchants enables us to provide an instant overdraft, or additional structured business finance within days in order to help the businesses grow, which in turn creates job opportunities that ultimately help the economy grow,' he said. Fourie announced his retirement last month and he steps down as CEO on July 18, 2025. His successor will be Graham Lee, who has been with Capitec since 2003 and has held various positions within the group. BUSINESS REPORT
TimesLIVE
23-04-2025
- Business
- TimesLIVE
Over half of SA adults choose Capitec — strong annual results show why
Capitec, SA's leading digital bank, has achieved a remarkable milestone, now serving more than half of the country's adult population. Over the past five years, the bank's journey has included the introduction of business banking, value-added services (VAS), Capitec Connect, and insurance under its own insurance licence. This diversification has effectively leveraged the group's substantial active client base, which now exceeds 24-million, with 13-million of these clients actively engaging with its app. Capitec's ambitious purpose of making a meaningful difference in people's lives and empowering them to grow is being realised at scale, as it delivers value to individuals, businesses, and the wider economy. We have always believed that banking should be simple, affordable, accessible, and personal. [Capitec's 2025 annual results] demonstrate that we are achieving just that Gerrie Fourie, CEO of Capitec For the financial year ending February 28 2025, the bank reported a 30% increase in headline earnings to R13.7bn. This was accomplished despite a challenging economic climate, highlighting the strength of Capitec's diversified business model and the impact of its integrated digital ecosystem. The bank's continued investment in data and technology allows the use of trillions of data points to create solutions that yield value and satisfy client needs. Gerrie Fourie, CEO of Capitec, asserts that the results represent more than mere numbers — they signify progress in transforming lives. 'We have always believed that banking should be simple, affordable, accessible, and personal. [ Capitec's 2025 annual results ] demonstrate that we are achieving just that. Through our high-volume, low-margin business model, we are enabling everyone to access solutions that allow them to take control of their finances, protect their families, manage businesses, and unlock opportunities. Our purpose-driven strategy is helping us scale sustainably and, most importantly, it is assisting 24-million South Africans to grow every day.' Diversification delivers balanced earnings growth Fourie elaborated on Capitec's diversification strategy. 'Capitec was primarily recognised for disrupting traditional banking with its simple, affordable Global One account and accessible credit. Building on this foundation of trust and our large client base, we've embarked on a focused diversification strategy to create a comprehensive financial ecosystem.' He emphasised that this was not just about adding products; it was about leveraging the bank's core strengths to provide unique value in areas such as credit, insurance, and accessible digital platforms and branches. This has resulted in increasingly balanced contributions to earnings. Personal banking now constitutes 45% of total earnings, insurance accounts for 25%, strategic initiatives (VAS and Capitec Connect) contribute 23%, business banking makes up 5%, and AvaFin (consolidated from May 1 2024) adds 2%. Creating an ecosystem of value for all South Africans Capitec's strategic focus on VAS and the Capitec Connect mobile virtual network operator has delivered exceptional results, providing significant client value and convenience. Their combined net income surged by 61% to R4.4bn. Over 11-million clients now use the Capitec app to purchase airtime, data, electricity, vouchers, and to pay bills. The bank captures over 40% of SA's airtime and data transactions, and one in five digital vehicle licence renewals now occur on its platform, saving clients both time and money. Capitec Connect has expanded its unique value proposition beyond the original no-expiry bundle to include highly competitive one-, seven-, and 30-day validity options, which now account for over 60% of sales. Active SIM subscribers have grown by 74% to 1.6-million, demonstrating the appeal of its simplified, affordable data offering integrated within the banking ecosystem. Data usage has surpassed 13.4 petabytes, contributing R193m in net income. The shift to digital payments continues to accelerate. Card payments at tills and online have risen by 18% to more than 2.4-billion transactions, while cash transaction volumes have increased by only 3%. E-commerce transactions, including those via Capitec Pay, surged by 47% to 488-million. More than a million clients are now actively using their Capitec cards through digital wallets such as Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Samsung Pay. Capitec has also launched a new international payments solution on the app, enabling fast and affordable payments to over 50 countries in 13 currencies, for a fixed fee of R175, with funds reflecting within hours. Meanwhile, new purpose credit solutions are helping clients fund vehicles, education, and home improvements through more than 27,000 partner locations. Credit sales to clients earning over R50,000 a month grew 56%, as the bank introduced personalised in-app offers, secured home loans, youth credit cards, and repay-as-you-earn loans for side hustlers and freelancers. Insurance records rapid growth under new licence Operating under its own licence, Capitec Life now manages over 3.3-million active funeral and life cover policies, insuring 15-million lives and contributing R1.9bn in net insurance income to the group. Fourie says: 'Since May 2024, we have added in excess of 600,000 active funeral and life cover policies on our own licence. This rapid uptake highlights the unique appeal of our simplified, affordable insurance products and positions Capitec as potentially the fastest-growing life insurer in the country.' New business bank offers simplified, transparent banking for everyone Capitec continues to simplify financial services for entrepreneurs and SMEs, many of whom remain underserved by traditional banks. Active business clients increased to 218,207 (up 15%), forex transactions grew by 92%, and scored loan balances rose by 111% to R1.3bn. Capitec's bold merchant commerce strategy involved selling new smart card machines outright rather than renting them, and providing the most competitive commission rates, which has helped grow the number of active trading merchants by 124% to 63,000, with a total annual turnover of R64bn. This simplified approach, along with newly reduced and transparent pricing, has saved businesses R289m in banking fees over the past year alone. Fourie says:, 'The transactional data of these trading merchants enables us to provide an instant overdraft, or additional structured business finance within days to help the businesses grow, which in turn creates job opportunities that ultimately help the economy grow.' Making a meaningful difference in communities through a focus on education Capitec's broader impact also includes significant contributions to financial education and social upliftment. Through the Capitec Foundation, more than 21,000 learners, educators, and school leaders benefitted from improved maths education programmes. Additionally, 4,000 employee volunteers partnered with nonprofits to deliver 345 initiatives that reached over 27,000 learners. Capitec's MoneyUp Academy and WhatsApp learning bot have delivered 1.6-million lessons, further driving financial literacy across the country. Driving this growth is Capitec's investment in technology, data, and security Trillions of data points are used to build more innovative solutions, while new fraud prevention tools, including facial biometric verification and in-app call authentication, have raised the bar on client protection. Igniting growth and opportunities for over 24-million South Africans 'We have laid solid foundations for long-term growth, powered by our scalable technology and diversified business model. We will continue to invest in technology and data to deepen our client knowledge and refine our offerings, ensuring each part of our ecosystem delivers distinct value,' says Fourie. 'Key future initiatives involve the continued development of our integrated ecosystem, enhancing our payment capabilities, and growing our business banking and insurance businesses. We remain passionate about making a meaningful difference and helping our clients and the South African economy grow.'
