Capitec Bank Holdings Ltd., South Africa’s best-performing share since the advent of democracy, wants to use its retail banking strategy to grow its business banking and insurance units.
Capitec’s shares have surged 1,276-fold since the company listed on 18 February 2002, outpacing a six-fold advance in the benchmark FTSE/JSE Africa All Share Index. The lender was spun off from financial services company PSG Group Ltd. in March 2001, and listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange in February 2002.
Still, the highest borrowing costs in 14 years hurt Capitec’s low-income customers and increased the bank’s bad debt to 10% in the year through February, compared with about 1% for its bigger rivals. The bank has also pared back unsecured lending, as impairments surged 37%.