CEO Alan Pullinger’s stake in Africa’s leading banking group, FirstRand Limited, has surged by $650,000 in three days as investors anticipate a 35-percent increase in the bank’s earnings for the first half of 2021.
According to Bloomberg, Africa’s largest bank in terms of market capitalization reported that its earnings are expected to rise by at least 35 percent in the year through June.
The disclosure comes a week after Standard Bank Group stated that it anticipates a 40-percent increase in headline earnings per share for the six months of the year.
The bank, however, noted that the strong performance is supported by current trends in consumer spending, which are returning to pre-COVID-19 levels. Consumers now utilize discretionary savings as the economy revs up for full recovery.
In addition to FirstRand’s financial strength and robust balance sheet, the disclosure has caught the attention of analysts and traders.
This triggered the recent gains in the bank’s share price, as investors and bargain hunters alike acquired additional shares in expectation of an impressive financial performance in the first six months of 2021.
FirstRand’s share price rose from $4.09 (R55.95) at the opening of market this week to $4.21 (R57.67) at close of the market on June 9.
This translates to a 3-percent or $0.13 (Ksh7.30) increase per share on all issued FirstRand shares on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange so far this week.
Pullinger, who serves as the bank’s CEO and executive director, is a leading individual shareholder in FirstRand. He owns an equity stake of about 0.09 percent in the bank.
Pullinger’s 5,156,000 shares in the company have increased in value from $21.08 million to $21.73 million between June 7 and 9.
This translates to a market-value gain of $650,000 for the top bank executive in three days.
