Capitec is adding 200,000 customers each month

Financial services group Capitec on Thursday (26 September) reported an 18% increase in operating profit before tax to R3.83 billion for the half year ended August 2019.

Headline earnings per share increased by 20% to R25.45 per share, from R21.28 per share in the prior corresponding period.

Earnings per share increased by 20% to R25.49 cents per share, from R21.22 per share in the prior corresponding period.

Headline earnings increased to R2.94 billion for the six month period ended August 2019 from R2.46 billion. Return on shareholders’ equity for the current period is 28% (August 2018: 27%), Capitec said.

Dividends per share increased by 20% to 755 cents per share, from 630 cents per share in the prior corresponding period, the bank said.

“The South African banking landscape has evolved rapidly over the past couple of years. Digitalisation has resulted in approximately 6.8 million clients now making use of our digital channels (banking app and USSD) up from 4.7 million at the end of August 2018,” Capitec said.

“We have 834 branches across the country in convenient locations and approximately 6 million clients visit our branches every month. We have converted 122 branches where we have removed the cashier and implemented a full self-help functionality.

“This enabled us to add an additional consultant workstation for further capacity in the branch.”

Altogether 21 new branches are scheduled to open during the second half of this financial year, the bank said.

“The delivery on clients’ needs through personalised service has resulted in an average client growth of almost 200,000 per month over the last 6 months. We now have 12.6 million active clients,” it said.

Since February 2019, 149 employees have joined the group, taking employee numbers to 13,923 people.

“We have had no retrenchments and do not plan any either,” Capitec said, as the industry faces mass trike action on Friday.

The strike is being led by South Africa’s largest financial union, Sasbo, with the mass action also being supported by trade federation Cosatu.

Employees will be protesting over planned retrenchments in the banking sector, and calling for a moratorium on job losses.

Many local banks have closed a number of their branches as a result of digitalisation, which encourages self-service, with clients using their mobile phones and computers, rather than walking into a branch.

Looking ahead, Capitec said that it will continue to use digital innovation and artificial intelligence to provide clients with the best digital banking and payment solutions, as well as improve client insights.

Read: Capitec says it’s hiring – not retrenching – as major banking strike looms