{"id":837244,"date":"2025-09-10T09:01:08","date_gmt":"2025-09-10T07:01:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=837244"},"modified":"2025-09-10T09:07:13","modified_gmt":"2025-09-10T07:07:13","slug":"south-africas-newest-bank-gets-a-multi-billion-rand-head-start","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/banking\/837244\/south-africas-newest-bank-gets-a-multi-billion-rand-head-start\/","title":{"rendered":"South Africa\u2019s newest bank gets a multi-billion rand head start"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Old Mutual’s new bank has benefited from the group’s existing operations, with billions in deposits and lending already on the books.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following a soft launch earlier this year, OM Bank officially opened to the public last month<\/a>, with Money Account clients requested to download the OM Bank app. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In its latest financial results for the year’s first half, Old Mutual said that it is leveraging its existing banking capabilities for OM Bank. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This includes R1.5 billion in deposits and R15.5 billion in lending operations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite being digital-first, Old Mutual uses its 346 branch network and FAIS-accredited in-branch advisor force to help grow the bank. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis allows us to expand current relationships with our mass-market customers while attracting new customers through a compelling banking proposition.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With a focus on the mass market, OM Bank is set to compete with banking giant Capitec, which has close to 25 million customers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Old Mutual has spent around R3.0 billion since 2022 in building its bank and secured a banking licence in early 2024. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The group previously said that the bank is expected to post an annual loss rate of R1.1 billion and R1.3 billion, before becoming profitable in 2028. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Clarence Nethengwe was appointed OM Bank CEO, previously serving as the group\u2019s Managing Director of the group\u2019s Mass and Foundation Cluster.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nomkhita Nqweni was also named the inaugural chairperson of the bank, having previously served on the Old Mutual board. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Financials<\/strong> <\/h2>\n\n\n
\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

When looking at the group\u2019s financials, results from operations increased by 16%, primarily driven by growth in Old Mutual Insure and favourable market conditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This growth was offset by the negative impact of a persistency basis change in Mass and Foundation Cluster and higher central costs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This includes a once-off restructuring provision incurred to reduce future expenditure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The group\u2019s adjusted headline earnings stood at R4.2 billion, boosting return on net asset value to 15.5% amid sales and persistency pressures. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The group\u2019s adjusted headline earnings growth of 29% was driven by strong underwriting performance in Old Mutual Insure and strong equity market performance, especially in South Africa and Malawi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The board declared an interim dividend of 37 cents per share, reflecting a 9% increase. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Its strong cash generation has also enabled a R3 billion share buyback.\u00a0However, the group noted that IFRS profit and headline earnings declined.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This mainly reflected reduced profits from the Zimbabwean business after the transition of its functional currency from Zimbabwe Gold to the United States dollar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With this, basic earnings declined by 20% to 96.1 cents per share, while headline earnings dropped by 27% to 97.5 cents per share.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Per share measures (cents)<\/strong><\/td>H1 2025<\/strong><\/td>H1 2024<\/strong><\/td>FY 2024<\/strong><\/td>Change<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
Results from operations per share <\/td>113.5<\/td>95.5<\/td>196.2<\/td>19%<\/td><\/tr>
Adjusted headline earnings per share <\/td>96.6<\/td>73.5<\/td>150.6<\/td>31%<\/td><\/tr>
Headline earnings per share*<\/td>97.5<\/td>133.6<\/td>202.7<\/td>(27%)<\/td><\/tr>
Basic earnings per share*<\/td>96.1<\/td>120.2<\/td>176.2<\/td>(20%)<\/td><\/tr>
Total dividend per share<\/td>37<\/td>34<\/td>86<\/td>9%<\/td><\/tr>
\u2514\u2500 Interim<\/td>37<\/td>34<\/td>34<\/td>9%<\/td><\/tr>
\u2514\u2500 Final<\/td>–<\/td>–<\/td>52<\/td>–<\/td><\/tr>
Group equity value per share <\/td>1 840.1<\/td>1 873.5<\/td>1 950.6<\/td>(6%)<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/div>
*Includes Zimbabwean impact<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

OM Bank already has billions on the books, with its parent company shifting existing business to the new bank. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":95,"featured_media":721254,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[961],"tags":[1798,1110,20634],"class_list":["post-837244","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-banking","tag-capitec","tag-old-mutual","tag-om-bank"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/837244","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/95"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=837244"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/837244\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":837254,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/837244\/revisions\/837254"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/721254"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=837244"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=837244"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=837244"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}