South African billionaire Christo Wiese gains $34 million in seven days

South African billionaire Christo Wiese’s stake in Africa’s largest retailer Shoprite Holdings has risen significantly in value over the past seven days, as investors on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange renewed buying interest in the group after it reported a double-digit increase in earnings.

Christo Wiese, who ranks as one of South Africa’s richest businessmen, owns 11.63 percent of Shoprite.

According to data tracked by Billionaires.Africa, the market value of Wiese’s 11.63-percent stake in Shoprite Holdings has increased by R591.98 million ($34.04 million) from R13.73 billion ($789.82 million) on Sept. 6 to R14.34 billion ($823.85 million) at the time of writing.

The bump can be attributed to the rising share price of the leading retailer from R217.63 ($12.51) a week ago to R227.01 ($13.05) at the time of writing, as investors on the Johannesburg bourse renewed buying interest in the group.

The increase in Shoprite shares on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange came after the retailer announced that the profit from its operations at the end of its 2022 fiscal year rose by 21.5 percent, from R4.86 billion ($275.4 million) in 2021 to R5.73 billion ($334 million), owing to an increase in merchandise sales.

As a result of the financial performance, the board declared a final dividend of R3.67 ($0.214) per share. The final dividend brings the total payout for the year to R6.00 ($0.35) per share, or a 10.3-percent increase in dividends paid per share over the previous year.

Wiese will receive R231.6 million ($13.36 million) in dividends from his stake in Shoprite Holdings, which will be paid from the retailer’s retained earnings of R20.6 billion ($1.2 billion) in accordance with the board’s dividend recommendation.