Malawian banking mogul Hitesh Anadkat has seen the market value of his stake in FMB Capital Holdings increase by MWK33.2 billion ($40.5 million) since the start of the year.
FMB Capital Holdings Plc is the Mauritius-based investment holding company of FMB Capital Group, which maintains banking and finance operations in Botswana, Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Anadkat founded the holding in 1995 and is the largest shareholder in the leading financial services group.
His 35.51-percent stake amounts to a total of 872,924,575 ordinary shares.
The multimillion-dollar gains in his stake can be attributed to a 172.2-percent increase in the share price of FMB Capital Holdings, as investors intensified buying interest in the group’s shares throughout the year in expectation of an improved financial performance at the year’s end.
As of press time, Nov. 11, shares in the Mauritius-based investment holding were worth MWK60 per share, giving the group an MWK146-billion ($178.6 million) valuation.
Since the start of the year, the group’s shares have increased by 172.2 percent from MWK22.04 ($0.02696) per share on Dec. 31, 2020 to MWK60 ($0.0734) per share on Nov. 7.Â
As a result, the market value of Anadkat’s stake has increased from MWK19.24 billion ($23.43 million) at the beginning of the year to MWK52.38 billion ($64.1 million) as of the time of writing.
This translates to a gain of MWK33.2 billion ($40.5 million) for the banking tycoon since the early 2021.
Investor expectations for increased profit this year have so far gone unrealized, as the group posted an 8.4-percent decline in profit in the first half of 2021 to $13.1 million, down from the $14.3 million that was reported in the first half of 2020.
The single-digit decline can be attributed to a rise in operating costs from $36 million to $46.3 million.
Aside from Anadkat’s stake in FMB Capital Holdings, the multimillionaire businessman holds a beneficial interest in Botswana-based micro-finance holding, Letshego Holdings, and Malawi’s pioneer telecommunications company, Telekom Networks Malawi Plc.
