{"id":852753,"date":"2026-03-04T11:36:21","date_gmt":"2026-03-04T09:36:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=852753"},"modified":"2026-03-04T11:36:25","modified_gmt":"2026-03-04T09:36:25","slug":"foreign-investors-are-betting-big-on-south-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/business\/852753\/foreign-investors-are-betting-big-on-south-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"Foreign investors are betting big on South Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Foreign investors are increasingly moving into South African assets, with the JSE beating several other markets worldwide. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking to BusinessTech following the release of the JSE’s 2025 financial results, CEO Leila Fourie said the bond and equity markets remain strong. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

She noted that South African indices have outperformed global indices. The JSE All-Share was up 57% in 2025, compared to the MSCI Emerging Markets Index, which was up 30.58%. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While much of the JSE’s strong performance has been linked to a rally in miners and commodities, Fourie said it is due to a combination of cyclical and structural drivers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While much of the equity market’s gains following the 2024 national election came from local investors, Fourie said that there has been a rise in foreign investment in equities. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Non-resident equity ownership on the JSE increased from 29.3% at the start of 2025 to 32.9% at the end. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Crucially, Fourie noted that South Africa’s weighting in the FTSE EM Index grew from 3.16% to 4.29% in 2025. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

She said that crossing the 5% mark would lead to a massive influx of foreign capital, as passive foreign investors who just follow the market will increasingly invest in South Africa. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fixed income also remains increasingly attractive for foreign investors, with net foreign inflows into South African bonds standing at R122 billion (2024: R82 billion).<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

IPOs on the way<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Fourie said that the company is cautiously optimistic about its future prospects, with a host of new IPOs expected in the near future. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This includes Coca-Cola Helenic, which is one of the world’s largest bottling companies. Coca-Cola HBC AG acquired a majority stake in Coca-Cola Beverages Africa for around R45 billion last year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After Multichoice’s delisting following its takeover by Canal+, the French broadcaster is also planning a secondary listing on the JSE. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fidelity Services Group, the largest security company in South Africa, is also planning to list on the JSE in the coming year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The JSE could also see Virgin Active listed in the near future, as its parent company, Brait, unbundles its assets. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the longer term, Fourie also noted that African Bank and the Tyme Group want to open a new bank in the coming year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The JSE is also planning a roadshow in the near future as per its partnership with Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul Group. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2024, the JSE and Tadawul signed an MOU of dual listings, fintech collaboration, and market development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A record year <\/h2>\n\n\n
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\"\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Fourie’s interview with BusinessTech followed the group’s announcement of a record-breaking year, with its profit after tax breaking the R1 billion mark for the first time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The group’s Headline Earnings Per Share (HEPS) grew to 1,329 cents per share, up 17.7% year-on-year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the group’s cash balance increasing by 12.7% to R3.2 billion, the group declared an ordinary dividend of 961 cents per share and a special dividend of 100 cents per share.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This resulted in a total dividend payout ratio of 85.6% (2024: 78%) and a 28.1% year-on-year increase in total dividends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

R million (unless otherwise stated)<\/th>FY2025<\/th>FY2024<\/th>% change<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
Revenue<\/td>3 401<\/td>2 971<\/td>14.4%<\/td><\/tr>
Operating income<\/td>3 535<\/td>3 095<\/td>14.2%<\/td><\/tr>
Total income<\/td>3 549<\/td>3 167<\/td>12.1%<\/td><\/tr>
Earnings before interest and tax (EBIT)<\/td>1 203<\/td>1 000<\/td>20.3%<\/td><\/tr>
Net finance income<\/td>197<\/td>205<\/td>(3.9%)<\/td><\/tr>
Share of profit from associate<\/td>52<\/td>46<\/td>12.6%<\/td><\/tr>
Income tax expense<\/td>381<\/td>333<\/td>14.4%<\/td><\/tr>
Net profit after tax (NPAT)<\/td>1 071<\/td>918<\/td>16.7%<\/td><\/tr>
NPAT margin<\/td>30.3%<\/td>30.2%<\/td>0.6 pts<\/td><\/tr>
Earnings per share (EPS) (cents)<\/td>1 322.3<\/td>1 129.4<\/td>17.1%<\/td><\/tr>
Headline earnings per share (HEPS) (cents)<\/td>1 328.9<\/td>1 128.6<\/td>17.7%<\/td><\/tr>
Ordinary dividend per share declared (cents)<\/td>961<\/td>828<\/td>16.0%<\/td><\/tr>
Special dividend per share declared (cents)<\/td>100<\/td>\u2013<\/td>100%<\/td><\/tr>
Net cash generated from operations<\/td>1 229<\/td>1 094<\/td>12.3%<\/td><\/tr>
ROE<\/td>22.0%<\/td>20.2%<\/td>1.8 pts<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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JSE CEO Leila Fourie says that the bourse has seen a rise in foreign investment, with the group cautiously optimistic over further listings. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":95,"featured_media":804352,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9872],"tags":[175],"class_list":["post-852753","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","tag-jse"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/852753","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=852753"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/852753\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":852757,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/852753\/revisions\/852757"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/804352"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=852753"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=852753"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=852753"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}