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Malawian multimillionaire businessman Hitesh Anadkat has seen his stake in FMB Capital Holdings (FMB Capital) increase in market value by MWK17.51 billion ($17.2 million) since the start of the year, as shares of the Mauritius-based investment holding firm soared by double digits.
FMB Capital is the Mauritius-based investment holding company of FMB Capital Group, which operates in Botswana, Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
Anadkat, who founded the leading financial services firm in 1995, owns 35.51 percent of the Port Louis-based firm, or 872,924,575 ordinary shares.
The double-digit increase in its share price on the Malawi Stock Exchange can be linked to investor reactions to its strong performance in the first six months of 2022.
As of press time on Oct. 7, shares in FMB Capital were trading at MWK100.06 ($0.0983) per share, unchanged from their starting price on the local bourse this morning, as investors on the local market continued to closely follow both financial and economic data.
Since the beginning of trading on the local bourse this year, shares in FMB Capital have risen by more than 25 percent, rising from MWK80 ($0.0786) on Jan. 1 to MWK100.06 ($0.0983) on Oct. 7.
As a result of the price increases, the market value of Anadkat’s 35.51-percent interest in FMB Capital has increased by MWK17.51 billion ($17.2 million) from MWK69.83 billion ($68.6 million) at the start of the year to MWK87.34 billion ($85.8 million) at the time of writing.
The double-digit year-to-date surge in the company’s shares was driven by its robust financial performance in the first half of 2022.
In the first six months of 2022, the investment group reported a 93-percent increase in its profit, from $13.1 million to $25.2 million, as the group’s banking operations in Botswana, Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia, and Zimbabwe all recorded profit growth.
“The improvement in profitability is a continuation of the strong momentum from the second half of 2021 and is driven by a combination of expanding corporate banking deal pipelines as well as improved cost efficiency and scale growth across all five countries’ banking operations, while maintaining credit risk management discipline,” FMB Capital explained in its financial statement.
