South African businessman Andre Du Plessis’ stake in Capitec Bank, one of South Africa’s largest retail banks, is presently worth R1.83 billion ($120.47 million).
Capitec is one of the leading lenders in South Africa in terms of client base. The bank is a financial brand that creates shared value through its transactional banking services and lending products such as term loans, credit facilities and credit cards.
The leading lender announced in its first-half-year financial report that headline earnings for the period rose to R3.99 billion ($264.8 million) from R650 million ($43.15 million) the previous year.
Du Plessis, a co-founder and the outgoing CFO of the South African bank, has a beneficial 0.008-percent ownership stake in the company, amounting to 917,976 shares.
As of press time on Jan. 20, the bank’s shares were trading at R1,990.77 ($131.23), 1.4-percent lower than their starting price on the local exchange this morning.
The market value of Du Plessis’ shareholding is R716.77 billion ($120.47 million) at the current pricing, making him one of the wealthiest investors on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.
His stock has dropped in value by more than $2.9 million since the start of the year, from $123.4 million to about $120.4 million.
Despite the decline in the value of his stake, he remains one of South Africa’s richest businessmen.
Capitec Bank was created in 2001 by Du Plessis, South African billionaire Michiel Le Roux and leading businessmen Jannie Mouton and Riaan Stassen.
Over the past 22 years, the bank has evolved into a world-renowned financial services company in South Africa, with total assets of R166.75 billion ($10.85 billion) and a shareholder value of around R31.96 billion ($2.08 billion) as of August last year.
Recently, Du Plessis announced his resignation as the bank’s CFO, effective at the end of June, after reaching the retirement age of 60 on Jan. 14.
In accordance with the bank’s policy, the board of directors has authorized the nomination of Grant Hardy, a senior financial professional in the bank, as the designated CFO, who will succeed Du Plessis on July 1.
