South African businessman Johan Burger gains $7.55 million, as FirstRand shares surge by 26 percent

South African businessman Johan Burger has recorded a R110-million ($7.55-million) boost to his net worth in the past 94 days as the market value of his stake in South Africa-based financial services group, FirstRand Limited, surged by double digits.

FirstRand Limited, an African market leader with operations in South Africa, the UK, and regional markets in Sub-Saharan Africa is Africa’s largest financial services group in terms of market capitalization.

Burger, who has been a director in the bank since 2009, holds a beneficial 0.12-percent stake in the leading financial services group.

Since the start of the year, FirstRand shares have increased from R60.8 ($4.17) on Jan. 1 to R76.7 ($5.261) as of the time of drafting this report, this accrued a total gain of 26.1-percent for the shareholders over the past 94 days.

As a result of the surge in the lender’s share price, the market value of Burger’s stake in FirstRand has risen from R420.76 million ($28.9 million) to R530.8 million ($36.4 million) between Jan. 1 to April 4.

This translates to a total gain of R110-million ($7.55-million) for the multimillionaire businessman since the start of the year.

The recent surge in FirstRand’s stock price can be linked to the impressive financial performance the South African lender reported in the first six months of its 2022 fiscal year.

According to the financial services group’s unaudited report, its headline profits, the key profit indicator in South Africa, climbed 41 percent from R11.15 billion ($729.9 million) in the first six months of 2021 to R15.78 billion ($1.03 billion) in the current quarter.

The significant improvement in headline earnings was driven by the management’s successful treasury and cost-cutting policies, which resulted in a reduction in impairment provisions from R9.4 billion ($615.5 million) last year to R4.03 billion ($263.9 million).