SOUTH AFRICA BANKING 29 APR 25_EN

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This Week’s News

Financial Reporter - Investec cuts HNW residential and buy-to-let rates by up to 0.30% - 28/4/2025

Investec recently announced reductions of up to 58bps across selected variable rate mortgage products, as well as reductions in residential mortgage fees from 1.00% to 0.50% and a cap on arrangement fees for owner-occupiers.

For the complete story, see:

https://www.financialreporter.co.uk/investec-cuts-hnw-residential-and-buy-to-let-rates-by-up-to-030.html

Business Tech - South Africa has a new biggest bank - 25/4/2025

Capitec’s strong share price growth helped it become South Africa’s largest bank by market cap, exceeding FirstRand, Standard Bank, Absa, and Nedbank.

For the complete story, see:

https://businesstech.co.za/news/banking/822283/south-africa-has-a-new-biggest-bank/

Reuters - Emerging economies face longer period of tighter financing, South African central banker says - 24/4/2025

Emerging economies will have to grapple with tighter global financing conditions for longer while the future of risk-free assets is very much in focus, the head of South Africa's central bank told Reuters.

For the complete story, see:

https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/emerging-economies-face-longer-period-tighter-financing-south-african-central-2025-04-24/

Other Stories

IOL - African Bank Limited faces R700,000 penalty for misleading advertising - 23/4/2025

My Broadband – Prominent South African investment app can be takeover target of a big bank – 21/4/2025

Tech Cabal – Access Holdings records highest tech spend as fraud losses drops 73% - 18/4/2025

Business Tech – FNB fraud alert for online shoppers in South Africa – 17/4/2025

Business Day – Access Bank acquires National Bank of Kenya to boost East African footprint – 15/4/2025

Media Releases

Nedbank Group Ltd (JSE: NED) - Unlock the power of Connected Wealth with Nedbank Private Wealth - 25/4/2025

RMB Holdings Limited (JSE: RMH) - RMB partners with SPAR on R4.5bn debt solution - 24/4/2025

Capitec Bank Holdings Ltd (JSE: CPI) - Capitec's headline earnings grow by 30% - 23/4/2025

First National Bank - FNB Receives National Accolades for CEO Leadership and Differentiated Culture - 23/4/2025

Latest Research

Renewable energy, banking sector development, and carbon dioxide emissions nexus: A path toward sustainable development in South Africa – By Ahmed Samour, Delani Moyo & Turgut Tursoy

Overviews of Leading Companies

Absa Group Limited (JSE: ABG)

African Bank Limited

Bidvest Bank

Capitec Bank Holdings Ltd (JSE: CPI)

Discovery Limited (JSE: DSY)

First National Bank

Firstrand Limited (JSE: FSR)

Grindrod Bank

Investec Ltd (JSE: INL)

Nedbank Group Ltd (JSE: NED)

Old Mutual Ltd (JSE: OMU)

PSG Group Limited (JSE: PSG)

Remgro Limited (JSE: REM)

RMB Holdings Limited (JSE: RMH)

Sanlam Limited (JSE: SLM)

Sasfin Holdings Limited (JSE: SFN)

Standard Bank Group Limited (JSE: SBK)

TymeBank

Ubank Limited

Associate: Josienity Millen

News and Commentary

Financial Reporter - Investec cuts HNW residential and buy-to-let rates by up to 0.30% - 28/4/2025

For the complete story, see:

https://www.financialreporter.co.uk/investec-cuts-hnw-residential-and-buy-to-let-rates-by-up-to-030.html

Business Tech - South Africa has a new biggest bank - 25/4/2025

Capitec’s strong share price growth helped it become South Africa’s largest bank by market cap, exceeding FirstRand, Standard Bank, Absa, and Nedbank.

For the complete story, see:

https://businesstech.co.za/news/banking/822283/south-africa-has-a-new-biggest-bank/

Reuters - Emerging economies face longer period of tighter financing, South African central banker says - 24/4/2025

For the complete story, see:

https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/emerging-economies-face-longer-period-tighter-financing-south-african-central-2025-04-24/

IOL - African Bank Limited faces R700,000 penalty for misleading advertising - 23/4/2025

The Financial Sector Conduct Authority says it has imposed a R700,000 administrative penalty on African Bank Limited for misleading advertising, which was found to violate Conduct Standard 3 of 2020.

For the complete story, see:

https://iol.co.za/personal-finance/financial-planning/2025-04-23-african-bank-limited-faces-r700000-penalty-for-misleading-advertising/

My Broadband – Prominent South African investment app can be takeover target of a big bank – 21/4/2025

Former FNB chief executive and Purple Group shareholder Michael Jordaan said EasyEquities may become a takeover target for one of South Africa’s big banks.

For the complete story, see: https://mybroadband.co.za/news/banking/592000-prominent-south-african-investment-app-can-be-takeover-target-of-a-big-bank.html

Tech Cabal – Access Holdings records highest tech spend as fraud losses drops 73% - 18/4/2025

Access Holdings Plc, the parent company of Access Bank, spent a record ₦193.5 billion ($120.5 million) on technology infrastructure and electronic business in 2024.

For the complete story, see: https://techcabal.com/2025/04/18/access-holdings-spends-big-on-tech/

Business Tech – FNB fraud alert for online shoppers in South Africa – 17/4/2025

FNB has urged customers to watch out for fraud when shopping online as e-commerce activity increases in the build-up to Easter.

For the complete story, see: https://businesstech.co.za/news/banking/821132/fnb-fraud-alert-for-online-shoppers-in-south-africa-2/

Business Day – Access Bank acquires National Bank of Kenya to boost East African footprint – 15/4/2025

Access Bank, Nigeria’s biggest bank by total assets, has outrightly acquired National Bank of Kenya Limited (NBK from KCB Group PLC (KCB Group), further deepening its East African footprint.

For the complete story, see: https://businessday.ng/companies/article/access-bank-acquires-national-bank-of-kenya-to-boost-east-african-footprint/

Media Releases

Nedbank Group Ltd (JSE: NED) - Unlock the power of Connected Wealth with Nedbank Private Wealth - 25/4/2025

Wealth is more than just financial capital. It is the foundation on which individuals build their legacies, secure their families’ futures, and create meaningful lives. This understanding is what drives Nedbank Private Wealth (NPW) to go beyond the numbers, connecting its clients to the real wealth they desire.

For NPW, the concept of Connected Wealth is not just a financial strategy, but an integrated way of managing wealth that ensures every decision aligns with broader life goals. Financial needs are not isolated – they are interwoven with personal aspirations, business or career ambitions, family priorities and global opportunities. This holistic perspective ensures that clients are not merely accumulating wealth but using it to shape the lives they envision for themselves and the people they care about.

According to Nandiswa Mxokozeli, Managing Executive of Nedbank Private Wealth, the promise that underpins the Connected Wealth approach is clear – if it is on a client’s mind, it is also on NPW’s mind. 'Delivering on this Connected Wealth promise means being highly proactive and looking beyond traditional banking services to offer holistic, tailored advice that considers every aspect of a client’s financial world,' she explains. 'Our wealth bankers are not just points of contact for clients. They are wealth partners and financial stewards, anticipating client needs before they arise and ensuring they have access to guidance and solutions that reflect both their current priorities and long-term vision.'

At the heart of this approach is the belief that wealth is deeply personal. No two people are the same, and financial strategies should reflect this individuality. The Connected Wealth approach prioritises understanding each client's unique needs, recognising that wealth is not just about security but also about enabling meaningful experiences like acquiring a dream home, investing in a passion project, or ensuring a seamless transfer of wealth across generations.

NPW’s commitment to Connected Wealth is evident in the way its financial solutions are structured. Its home loan offering, for instance, is more than a means to finance a property; it ensures that the purchase aligns with a client’s broader financial framework. Preferential lending rates connect property acquisition with long-term financial sustainability, reinforcing the idea that every financial decision should serve a greater purpose.

Similarly, structured lending solutions provide clients with the flexibility to unlock liquidity while safeguarding their broader financial ambitions. Whether leveraging existing assets for expansion, securing capital for entrepreneurial ventures, or financing intergenerational wealth-building strategies, these bespoke lending options ensure that clients can grow their wealth without compromising their long-term financial stability.

For those with international financial interests, NPW’s Focus Account provides a seamless platform to manage global wealth. With access to international banking, lending, and investment solutions, clients can navigate cross-border financial complexities with confidence. This integration reduces administrative burdens, enabling them to focus on capitalising on global opportunities while ensuring their financial decisions align with their overall wealth strategy.

Mxokozeli highlights that what truly differentiates NPW is not just the breadth of its financial solutions but the depth of its client relationships. The Connected Wealth philosophy is not merely about offering financial products; it is about understanding the motivations behind financial decisions and ensuring they align with personal and family aspirations. 'We recognise that while our clients’ decisions involve financial considerations, they are never just about money,' she says. 'They are about the future, family, legacy, and long-term security. Our priority is to have the level of relationship and understanding required to make sure that every financial choice they make is connected to what truly matters to them.'

This emphasis on proactive partnership means that NPW’s wealth bankers do more than react to client needs – they anticipate them. By maintaining a long-term view of each client’s financial journey, they provide insights and solutions before challenges arise. Whether adjusting investment strategies in response to shifting global markets, preparing for changes in tax legislation, or identifying new investment opportunities, NPW Wealth ensures that clients remain one step ahead. For example, our portfolio management approach is deeply rooted in understanding our clients' unique needs, balancing wealth preservation with growth opportunities in an ever-evolving global landscape.

Connected Wealth is ultimately about ensuring that wealth serves a greater purpose. NPW understands that wealth is not an end in itself but a means to create the life and legacy each client envisions. Through expertise, foresight and a deeply personalised approach, NPW connects every financial decision to what matters most.

This is what sets Nedbank Private Wealth apart. It is about managing wealth while connecting it to the aspirations and values that define each client’s life. In doing so, NPW delivers financial solutions and the reassurance that every wealth decision is carefully aligned with a client’s personal vision for the future.

https://group.nedbank.co.za/news-and-insights/press.html

RMB Holdings Limited (JSE: RMH) - RMB partners with SPAR on R4.5bn debt solution - 24/4/2025

RMB partners with SPAR on R4.5bn debt solution to support their strategic refocus

As a long-term partner, primary banker, trusted advisor, and funder to the SPAR Group Limited (“SPAR”), RMB has played a pivotal role in their growth journey, most recently as the Joint Initial Mandated Lead Arranger (“JLMA”) and Joint Bookrunner on the structuring and raising of a R4.5 billion debt package. This is the latest in a series of strategic initiatives aimed at helping SPAR optimise its capital structure and position for long-term competitiveness and sustainability.

“Over the years, RMB has supported SPAR across transactional, funding, risk management and advisory services. Recently, we were appointed as a debt advisor, providing an objective view on the Group’s capital structure. This process included an in-depth assessment of SPAR’s evolving business needs, funding strategy and capital deployment priorities across their Southern African and European operations,” says Tsholanang Kgosimore, Senior Transactor at RMB.

Following the conclusion of the advisory mandate, RMB co-funded a R2 billion bridge facility and provided the necessary currency hedging solution, which enabled SPAR to settle its Polish debt obligations and successfully exit the market – a key strategic milestone in the Group’s repositioning. This was followed by a R4.5 billion syndicated term loan debt raise, which RMB led as JLMA and Joint Bookrunner, and was successfully concluded in March 2025.

RMB’s meaningful participation across the working capital, bridge and syndicated term loan facilities underscores their commitment to SPAR. The recent syndicated term loan transaction has helped them to optimise their debt structure and support future strategic execution. This, alongside optimised capital structuring, has positioned SPAR for more sustainable operations, increased flexibility and enhanced competitiveness within the South African retail landscape.

“RMB’s role as a critical partner on this journey underscores our ongoing commitment to supporting SPAR as a strategic client. Overcoming the complexities inherent in this deal demonstrates our ability to leverage deep advisory expertise, structuring capability and balance sheet strength to guide our clients through complex transitions,” Kgosimore concludes.

https://www.rmb.co.za/news/rmb-partners-with-spar-on-r45bn-debt-solution

Capitec Bank Holdings Ltd (JSE: CPI) - Capitec's headline earnings grow by 30% - 23/4/2025

Capitec, South Africa’s leading digital bank, has achieved a remarkable milestone, now serving more than half of the country’s adult population. Over the past five years, the bank's journey has included the introduction of business banking, value-added services (VAS), Capitec Connect, and insurance under its own insurance licence. This diversification has effectively leveraged the group’s substantial active client base, which now exceeds 24 million, with 13 million of these clients actively engaging with their app. Capitec’s ambitious purpose of making a meaningful difference in people’s lives and empowering them to grow is being realised at scale, as it delivers value to individuals, businesses, and the wider economy.

For the financial year ending 28 February 2025, the bank reported a 30% increase in headline earnings to R13.7 billion. This was accomplished despite a challenging economic climate, highlighting the strength of Capitec’s diversified business model and the impact of its integrated digital ecosystem. The bank’s continued investment in data and technology allows the utilisation of trillions of data points to create solutions that yield value and satisfy client needs.

Gerrie Fourie, Chief Executive Officer of Capitec, asserts that the results represent more than mere numbers - they signify progress in transforming lives. “We have always believed that banking should be simple, affordable, accessible, and personal. These results demonstrate that we are achieving just that. Through our high-volume, low-margin business model, we are enabling everyone to access solutions that allow them to take control of their finances, protect their families, manage businesses, and unlock opportunities. Our purpose-driven strategy is helping us scale sustainably and, most importantly, it is assisting 24 million South Africans to grow every day.”

Diversification delivers balanced earnings growth

Fourie elaborated on Capitec’s diversification strategy, “Capitec was primarily recognised for disrupting traditional banking with its simple, affordable Global One account and accessible credit. Building on this foundation of trust and our large client base, we’ve embarked on a focused diversification strategy to create a comprehensive financial ecosystem.”

He emphasised that this was not just about adding products; it was about leveraging the bank’s core strengths to provide unique value in areas such as credit, insurance, and accessible digital platforms and branches. This has resulted in increasingly balanced contributions to earnings. Personal banking now constitutes 45% of total earnings, insurance accounts for 25%, strategic initiatives (VAS and Capitec Connect) contribute 23%, business banking makes up 5%, and AvaFin (consolidated from 1 May 2024) adds 2%.

Creating an ecosystem of value for all South Africans

Capitec’s strategic focus on value-added services (VAS) and the Capitec Connect mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) has delivered exceptional results, providing significant client value and convenience. Their combined net income surged by 61% to R4.4 billion. Over 11 million clients now utilise the Capitec app to purchase airtime, data, electricity, vouchers, and to pay bills. The bank captures over 40% of South Africa’s airtime and data transactions, and one in five digital vehicle licence renewals now occur on its platform, saving clients both time and money.

Capitec Connect has expanded its unique value proposition beyond the original no-expiry bundle to include highly competitive 1-, 7-, and 30-day validity options, which now account for over 60% of sales. Active SIM subscribers have grown by 74% to 1.6 million, demonstrating the appeal of its simplified, affordable data offering integrated within the banking ecosystem. Data usage has surpassed 13.4 petabytes, contributing R193 million in net income.

The shift to digital payments continues to accelerate. Card payments at tills and online have risen by 18% to more than 2.4 billion transactions, while cash transaction volumes have increased by only 3%. E-commerce transactions, including those via Capitec Pay, surged by 47% to 488 million. More than 1 million clients are now actively using their Capitec cards through digital wallets such as Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Samsung Pay. Capitec has also launched a new International Payments solution on the app, enabling fast and affordable payments to over 50 countries in 13 currencies, for a fixed fee of R175, with funds reflecting within hours.

Meanwhile, new purpose credit solutions are helping clients fund vehicles, education, and home improvements through more than 27 000 partner locations. Credit sales to clients earning over R50 000 a month grew 56%, as the bank introduced personalised in-app offers, secured home loans, youth credit cards, and repay-as-you-earn loans for side hustlers and freelancers.

Insurance records rapid growth under new license

Operating under its own licence, Capitec Life now manages over 3.3 million active funeral and life cover policies, insuring 15 million lives and contributing R1.9 billion in net insurance income to the group. Fourie notes, “Since May 2024, we have added in excess of 600 000 active funeral and life cover policies on our own licence. This rapid uptake highlights the unique appeal of our simplified, affordable insurance products and positions Capitec as potentially the fastest-growing Life Insurer in the country.”

New Business bank offers simplified and transparent banking for everyone

Capitec continues to simplify financial services for entrepreneurs and SMEs, many of whom remain underserved by traditional banks. Active business clients increased to 218 207 (up 15%), forex transactions grew by 92%, and scored loan balances rose by 111% to R1.3 billion. Capitec’s bold merchant commerce strategy involved selling new smart card machines outright rather than renting them, and providing the most competitive commission rates, which has helped grow the number of active trading merchants by 124% to 63 000, with a total annual turnover of R64 billion. This simplified approach, along with newly reduced and transparent pricing, has saved businesses R289 million in banking fees over the past year alone.

Fourie said, “The transactional data of these trading merchants enables us to provide an instant overdraft, or additional structured business finance within days in order to help the businesses grow, which in turn creates job opportunities that ultimately help the economy grow.”

Making a meaningful difference in communities through a focus on education

Capitec’s broader impact also includes significant contributions to financial education and social upliftment. Through the Capitec Foundation, more than 21 000 learners, educators, and school leaders benefited from improved maths education programmes. Additionally, 4 000 employee volunteers partnered with nonprofits to deliver 345 initiatives that reached over 27 000 learners. Capitec’s MoneyUp Academy and WhatsApp learning bot have delivered 1.6 million lessons, further driving financial literacy across the country.

Driving this growth is Capitec’s investment in technology, data, and security

Trillions of data points are used to build more innovative solutions, while new fraud prevention tools, including facial biometric verification and in-app call authentication, have raised the bar on client protection.

Igniting growth and opportunities for over 24 million South Africans

Fourie concludes, “We have laid solid foundations for long-term growth, powered by our scalable technology and diversified business model. We will continue to invest in technology and data to deepen our client knowledge and refine our offerings, ensuring each part of our ecosystem delivers distinct value. Key future initiatives involve the continued development of our integrated ecosystem, enhancing our payment capabilities, and growing our business banking and insurance businesses. We remain passionate about making a meaningful difference and helping our clients and the South African economy grow.”

https://www.capitecbank.co.za/blog/news/2025/annual-results/

First National Bank - FNB Receives National Accolades for CEO Leadership and Differentiated Culture - 23/4/2025

FNB Receives National Accolades for CEO Leadership and Differentiated Culture

Builds on Delie’s Recent CEO of The Year Award

F.N.B. Corporation (NYSE: FNB) announced today that Chief Executive Officer Vincent J. Delie, Jr. was named one of the top 50 CEOs in the U.S. by Brand Finance. Delie appeared among leaders of the most respected and well-known companies in the country in the global brand valuation consultant’s Brand Guardianship Index, which assesses CEOs on their leadership qualities, brand stewardship and ability to create long-term shareholder value.

Delie was in the top five bank CEOs in the U.S. In addition to being listed alongside the individuals steering the nation’s largest financial institutions, he also outperformed executives at some of the world’s most prominent and recognizable organizations. To compile its independent ranking, Brand Finance evaluated insights gathered through a global survey of nearly 5,000 respondents, including equity analysts, journalists and the general public. Notably, Delie’s commitment to innovation and Artificial Intelligence (AI), as highlighted by FNB’s award-winning eStore®, were significant factors in his outstanding scores.

Delie’s leadership is the foundation of an outstanding workplace culture that most recently earned multiple national Top Workplaces Culture Excellence awards from Energage.

Energage, an independent research firm specializing in workplace engagement and organizational health, has honored FNB numerous times based entirely on employee feedback. In addition to multiple Culture Excellence awards, recurring recognition as a Top Workplace USA and for Financial Services highlight the priority the Company places on comprehensive employee success.

2025 marks the fourth consecutive year that FNB has received Culture Excellence Awards, which celebrate organizations that excel in specific areas of workplace culture. This year, the Company earned distinction in the following categories:

Leadership, which recognizes organizational leaders who inspire confidence in employees and the company direction.
Innovation for creating a culture where new ideas are encouraged, which helps employees to reach their full potential and benefits performance.
Purpose & Values for successfully communicating the company mission and integrating those aspirations into the culture.
Work-Life Flexibility for enabling employees to meet the demands of their personal lives while maintaining high performance.

Delie said, “FNB’s third-party workplace awards and recognition are directly attributed to our employees, who live our core values and embrace our digital strategy and what we can achieve with eStore. Our culture ensures that our team has clear direction and support, and that has a positive impact on everyone we serve, including shareholders.”

https://www.fnb-online.com/about-us/newsroom/press-releases/2025/250423-fnb-receives-national-accolades-for-ceo

Latest Research

Renewable energy, banking sector development, and carbon dioxide emissions nexus: A path toward sustainable development in South Africa

Ahmed Samour, Delani Moyo & Turgut Tursoy

Abstract:

Climate change and global warming create considerable problems for people, such as intense droughts. One of the biggest causes of global warming is the preference for fossil fuels in energy production. In this context, renewable energy has been considered an effective way to promote environmental quality. Several empirical studies have evaluated the impact of economic growth and energy on environmental quality. However, the possible influence of banking development on carbon emissions in South Africa has been ignored. Thus, this study contributes to the extant literature by assessing the impact of banking sector development on the environmental quality in South Africa over the period 1986–2017. For this purpose, the linkage between energy, economic growth, banking sector development and emissions are assessed by using the new technique of bootstrap autoregressive distributed lag. The findings from the ARDL estimations affirm that renewable energy consumption affects negatively emissions. However, the main conclusion of this study is that banking sector development has a negative influence on the environmental quality in South Africa through GDP and energy factors. The finding reveals that an increase in credit from banks to markets will lead to a rise in projects and investments, as well as strengthen risk management systems, potentially affecting economic growth and energy consumption and therefore increasing emissions. Hence, the outcome suggests that policymakers in South Africa must use the growth of the banking sector to enhance environmental quality by promoting investment in energy and production through renewable energy.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S096014812200653X

The Industry

South Africa Banking Outlook 2024

Key Takeaways:

South Africa's structural economic issues and infrastructure gaps are undermining the country's short- and medium-term growth prospects. S&P Global Ratings estimates GDP growth at less than 1.0% in 2023 and 1.5% in 2024.
Credit conditions will remain tight in 2024, although inflation has slowed to 5.5% since June 2023. We expect inflation to average 5% in 2024, toward the top of the South African Reserve Bank's (SARB's) 3%-6% target range.
We forecast that growth in credit to the private sector will be subdued at 5% in 2024. However, we expect banks to extend credit to the renewable energy sector because of electricity shortages. Private sector credit to GDP will remain stable, at about 70%. Households’ disposable income will remain under pressure because of high interest rates and elevated food prices.
We expect that the banking sector's credit loss ratio will remain slightly higher than the historical low of 0.75%, averaging 1.4% of total loans through 2024. Similarly, nonperforming loans will likely remain elevated, at above 4% of systemwide loans in 2024.
Nonetheless, we anticipate that the sector will maintain strong risk-adjusted returns of 15%-16% on average, supported by net interest margins and transactional revenue. This, in turn, will support banks' internal capital generation.
The sovereign-bank nexus underpins the limited availability of high-quality liquid assets in the South African capital market, and banks’ appetite for sovereign risk in the weak economic environment.

Key Risks for South African Banks in 2024

Global Liquidity

While investors' risk-off sentiment toward emerging markets started shifting in 2023, the slow reform momentum, electricity crisis, and upcoming elections in South Africa could affect portfolio flows
While South African banks are less exposed to external refinancing risks, they are vulnerable to global investor sentiment and external financing conditions, which are tied to U.S. interest rates.
South Africa remains on the global antimoney laundering and terrorist financing watchdog's grey list. A prolonged stay on the Financial Action Task Force's (FATF's) grey list could further increase financing costs.

Weaker Asset Quality

Lingering weak economic growth prospects because of chronic under-investment in electricity infrastructure and ports could create long-term setbacks for the South African economy.
Higher interest rates and inflation will likely affect households and small businesses, weighing on asset quality indicators in 2024 on the back of subdued loan growth.
Commercial real estate (CRE) performance will remain under pressure amid high interest rates and inflation. Pressure on CRE valuations also stems from high vacancy rates in some city centers.

Policy Choices

The SARB's monetary stance will remain tight for at least the first half of 2024. This will constrain credit demand but support net interest margins. Inflation is set to decline to about 5% in 2024, toward the top of the 3%- 6% target range.
Banks’ holdings of government securities increased to about 15% of the sector's total assets in 2023. Banks have the capacity to absorb additional government debt thanks to their liquid balance sheets and positive yields in real terms.
The adoption of a resolution regime in South Africa will lead to the sustained issuance of capital instruments.

For full report, see: https://www.spglobal.com/_assets/documents/ratings/research/101592098.pdf

Institute of Bankers South Africa

Our Purpose

To capacitate the Financial Services Industry with people who make a difference

Who We Are?

“We are a member-centric professional body that exists for members that seek a career in the Banking and Financial Services sector”

“The Institute of Bankers in SA is the sole professional body for Bankers and Financial Services Professionals in the Financial sector recognised by the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA)”

“The early vision of the Institute was to form a body to educate bankers, as described by Mr. Mackenzie (the 1st President of IOBSA) as “a kind of Banking Club, where stimulants should be of an intellectual nature; a feast of reason and a flow of soul”.

What We Do?

A Professional Body is an organisation with individual members practicing a profession or occupation in which the organisation maintains an oversight of the knowledge, skills, conduct and practice of that profession or occupation.

A professional association seeks to further a particular profession, the interests of individuals engaged in that profession and the public interest.

Professional bodies offer student registration categories to enable those who are still studying towards a qualification in the field, to join and receive specific benefits such as training, development and networking opportunities

Why?

The face-to-face financial services professions in South Africa has minimal to non-visible structured growth plans for individuals in the sector

Technology driven initiatives lead customer service capabilities of the future

South Africa is a developing country with 29% unemployment rate, operating a 1st World-class highly competitive banking industry which is determined to drive technological changes

https://www.iob.co.za/iobsa-purpose/

Membership

The IOBSA believes that at the core of its membership is the belonging to and being part of an organisation, where members can gain value and obtain benefits professionally and individually.

The Institute of Bankers in South Africa provides members with professional designations, networking, educational, training and information opportunities.

The Institute ensures it delivers a service to its members that is relevant to today’s professional arena. The IOBSA aims to support members in achieving their professional goals and to provide an avenue for members to be connected, informed and qualified.

Why Be a member?

Membership to the Banking and related Financial Service Sector’s specialist Professional Body, for bankers and financial services specialists.
Membership demonstrates that you meet professional standards of excellence respected all over the world.
It confers Professional status through registered designations from NQF level 5 to NQF level 8.
You can attend a wide selection of seminars, conferences and other events at a discounted members’ rate. The events help you increase your business and financial services knowledge, offer networking opportunities and add to your Continuing Professional Development (CPD).
Continuing Professional Development: taking part in the IOBSA CPD scheme will demonstrate that you are managing your ongoing professional development.
Our website will offer members’ only areas to assist with (CPD) compliance which at the same time will be informative and value add.
Exposure and promotion of members to the broader Banking and related Financial Service Sector’s through the IOBSA owned media vehicles.

Why Members Need to Stay Informed?

The environment in which financial organisations operate is constantly changing.
Continual regulation changes make strenuous demands on time and resources.
Highly astute customers demand better service and increase competition.
New distribution channels are changing the way services and products are disseminated.
New entrants into the market – both on and offshore – are challenging market share.
Niche market opportunities are emerging.
To understand changes in technology.
To better service existing customers in order to retain and understand their business.
To retain intellectual property.
To enable improvement of skills.

Membership And Designation Categories

The Institute has six (6) membership categories and five (5) registered professional designations in its capacity as Professional Body.

The membership categories are aligned to designations with the one exception to a membership status:

Member without a designation “non-designated”
Licentiate of the Institute of Bankers in South Africa (LIBSA)
Certified Associate of the Institute of Bankers in South Africa (CAIB(SA))
Associate of the Institute of Bankers in South Africa (AIBSA)
Professional Banker of the Institute of Bankers in South Africa (PBSA)
Fellow of the Institute of Bankers in South Africa (FIBSA)

https://www.iob.co.za/member-benefits/

The Banking Association of South Africa

About Us

The Banking Association South Africa (BASA) advances the interests of the industry with its regulators, legislators and stakeholders, to make banking sustainable, profitable and better able contribute to the social and economic development and transformation of the country.

As the national association of domestic and international banks operating in South Africa, BASA:

Advocates the views of the banks on legislation, regulation, and social and economic issues that affect the industry. BASA canvasses its members through committees and work groups.
Facilitates the sustainable transformation of the banking industry.
Promotes inclusive economic growth by working with legislators, regulators, as well as other business associations and stakeholders, to establish a stable, conducive policy and business environment.
Helps find sustainable solutions to the challenges of poverty, unemployment and inequality by mobilising the skills and resources of the industry.
Hosts the Southern African Development Community Banking Association (SADC BA), which works with regulators to strengthen the integrity and efficiency of banking services in the region.

As an industry association which represents those banks licenced to operate in South Africa, BASA is not able to resolve customer complaints involving its members. Individual complaints about banking products and services can be referred to the Ombudsman for Banking Services.

https://www.banking.org.za/about-us/

For the list of members, see:

https://www.banking.org.za/about-us/member-banks/

Leading Companies

ABSA GROUP LIMITED (JSE: ABG)

About Us

We are an African group, inspired by the people we serve and determined to be a globally respected organisation of which Africa can be proud.

We’re committed to finding tailored solutions to uniquely local challenges and everything we do is focused on creating shared value.

To this end, we offer a universal set of products and services across retail, business, corporate, investment and wealth banking, as well as investment management and insurance solutions.

Listed on the JSE, the Absa Group is one of Africa’s largest diversified financial services groups with a presence in 14 countries.

We own majority stakes in banks in Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius, Mozambique, Seychelles, South Africa, Tanzania (Absa Bank Tanzania and National Bank of Commerce), Uganda and Zambia as well as insurance operations in Botswana, Kenya, Mozambique, South Africa and Zambia. We also have representative offices in Namibia, Nigeria and securities entities in the United Kingdom and the United States.

What is our purpose?

Our purpose is to bring possibilities to life. We believe everyone should have access to the transformative power of financial services to help them plan, dream, and aspire to change their lives for the better. We will find creative ways to deliver innovative technologies and propositions to make more possible, and we will help shape a world that values progress and economic activity to serve the common good. We believe in growth that is sustainable, which serves to benefit generations of our customers, our employees, and our communities on our continent and in the world at large.

Our values

We drive high performance to achieve sustainable results

We play to win and are accountable for results.
We innovate, we are decisive, and we act quickly.
We learn from our failures and we are bold enough to change course.

Our employees are our strength

We integrate diverse perspectives to invent the future.
We collaborate with courage, honesty and powerful energy.
We trust, value and grow our people to achieve their full potential.

We are obsessed with the customer

We integrate diverse perspectives to invent the future.
We collaborate with courage, honesty and powerful energy.
We trust, value and grow our employees to achieve their full potential.

We have an African heartbeat

We deliver a uniquely Absa experience, across Africa.
We co-create across Africa to deliver better solutions.
We actively engage our communities to bring possibilities to life.

https://www.absa.africa/absaafrica/about-us/who-we-are/

11/3/2025

FY24 financial results

Difficult macro backdrop that remains highly uncertain

Global Environmen

Global uncertainty rose sharply with new US administration
Inflationary pressure from tariffs
Monetary policy trends reflect country-specific conditions
Elevated geopolitical tensions
Regulatory fragmentation

Sub-Saharan African

Social tension in some markets
Disinflation, policy rate cutting
Improving weather conditions
Large infrastructure investment
Stronger GDP growth expected
Sovereign debt challenges continue
Widespread currency weakness

South Africa

Two significant events: GNU formed, reduced load shedding
Increased household income and consumption
Benign inflation and shallow rate cutting cycle
Improving GDP growth trend

Making progress on strategic execution priorities

From focus on market share growth to sustainable growth delivering the right returns
From a product focus to both product and client/customer franchise profitability
Creating a Retail SA franchise
Adopting a franchise approach to wholesale clients
Focus on precision of capital allocation
Driving a productivity and efficiency program to finance investment

Franchise health improving

Customer

Purpose aligned brand – “Your story matters”

• Customer experience improved by 5 points

• Growing RBB customer base

SA retail transactional customers up 7%
ARO active customers grew 13%
Strengthening client primacy in CIB to 42%

Technology And Digital

Stable technology

• 99.98% availability

• Over 1000 days with no severity 1 incidents

Accelerating digital adoption

• 14% growth in digitally active customers across group

Sustainability

R49bn in sustainability-linked financing in 2024
Achieved 2025 R100bn target a year ahead of schedule

Colleague

Employees are engaged.
Staff ownership via share scheme.

For full release, see:

https://www.absa.africa/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Full-year-results-investor-presentation.pdf

AFRICAN BANK LIMITED

African Bank Limited, is a retail bank in South Africa, that offers financial products and services. The Bank is licensed as a "locally controlled bank" by the South African Reserve Bank (SARB). Headquartered in Midrand, South Africa, the bank has a countrywide branch distribution network in addition to a full digital channel offering; as well as sales, collections and customer service Contact Centres.

About Us

We are continually innovating financial solutions that are more valuable and more accessible. We call it humanity through banking.

Our Values

WE ARE TRANSPARENT

In all our interactions, we commit to open and honest communication, whether it be written or verbal.
We are open to considering different viewpoints and we commit to expressing our own, respectfully.
We commit to account for our activities and accept responsibility for them.
We disclose the results of our activities and deliver on our promises.
We say what we mean and we do what we say.

https://www.africanbank.co.za/en/home/about-us-our-company/#OurValues

25/11/2024

FY24 Results

Operating Environment

Our journey of growth has taken place in a challenging economic environment. We operate in markets grappling with material levels of unemployment, gender inequality, income disparity, and structurally unequal access to education, healthcare, and essential services. Furthermore, extreme weather events such as fires, flooding and droughts have had an adverse impact on local economies, with the provinces of KwaZulu-Natal and Western Cape being badly affected. The global macroeconomic environment is precarious, characterised by ongoing geopolitical tensions, supply chain disruptions, heightened inflation, high interest rates, energy shortages, and foreign exchange rate volatility. There are, however, some green shoots with the United Kingdom lowering its benchmark rate and increasing positive sentiment in global markets. As of September 2024, we have seen the beginning of interest rate cuts, in line with major economies like the United States of America. This is a positive signal in the markets given the demanding operational context over the past 4 years.

As a bank established to walk alongside our people on the path to prosperity, we confront adversities with resilience and adaptability. We re-envision challenges as opportunities to create inclusive access for individuals and businesses facilitated by digital connectivity. Our mindset and our audacity to believe are pivotal drivers to our success.

Economic Environment

South Africa’s structural economic issues and infrastructure gaps undermine the country’s short- and medium-term growth prospects. According to the South African Reserve Bank’s (SARB) monetary policy committee statement of September 2024, Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth has been sluggish, with 1.9% recorded in 2022, 0.7% in 2023, and 1.1% for 2024 based on the most recent estimates. South Africa’s energy crisis, characterised by frequent load-shedding, has had a substantial negative impact on economic productivity. However, recent reductions in loadshedding provide positive signals for South Africa. The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) estimates that load-shedding alone has reduced GDP growth by 1% to 3%. Furthermore, logistical constraints, including unreliable rail and port services, have further burdened the economy, particularly the mining and export sectors. Repo rates increased post-COVID-19 to a high of 8.25% and a prime lending rate of 11.75% in September 2024. Credit conditions therefore remain tight in 2024, although inflation had slowed to 4.6% in September 2024. Based on the SARB’s forecast, we expect inflation to average 4.5% in 2024, which is within the SARB’s 3%-6% target range. Households’ disposable income will remain under pressure because of high interest rates and elevated food prices.

Our Response

We focus on maintaining a strong capitalised balance sheet with adequate levels of liquidity to withstand potential economic shocks while continuing our growth aspirations. Furthermore, our responsible credit risk management practices and diversified revenue streams have helped to reduce our reliance on traditional banking activities.
We have emphasised financial inclusion. This involves offering affordable financial products, expanding digital banking services to reach underserved communities, and supporting small and medium enterprises (SMEs) through targeted financial solutions.
As African Bank, we have prioritised cost and operational efficiencies.
As a bank for the people, we have diversified our banking solutions to benefit the bank and our customers by improving financial stability, enhancing risk management, increasing profitability, and driving innovation.
Our strategy of diversifying the business and de-risking our balance sheet has helped deliver sustainability and scalability to our business.

Political Environment

African Bank operates in a relatively stable domestic political environment. South Africa’s constitutional democracy has remained firmly entrenched and will mature further as political competition and diversity increase. There are positive signs of policy continuity post-election, encompassing the current administration’s structural reform agenda, which will steadily enhance South Africa’s economic performance. On the global front, the geopolitical landscape is in a volatile state, with continued conflict in Ukraine, Sudan, parts of West Africa, and the Middle East, and an escalation of the Israel-Gaza war, all of which has impacted oil prices and global inflation.

Our Response

We rally behind a vision that places paramount importance on inclusive economic growth and robust job creation while resolutely combating corruption and inefficiencies in the economy. Our unwavering commitment to mutual accountability is pivotal for safeguarding the legacy of our democracy and shaping a prosperous future for generations to come.
African Bank actively participates in public-private partnerships, aligning its initiatives with government priorities such as financial inclusion and infrastructure development.

Social Environment

African Bank operates in a complex social environment characterised by significant socioeconomic challenges in South Africa. These include high levels of income inequality, unemployment (33.5% unemployment rate), particularly youth unemployment, and poverty. The country’s social fabric is further strained by issues such as crime, corruption, and inadequate infrastructure. These factors contribute to a challenging operating environment for businesses, including banks. Additionally, the financial sector in South Africa faces the task of driving financial inclusion, particularly for underserved and economically disadvantaged groups. Access to banking services remains a critical issue, with many individuals and small businesses still excluded from the formal financial system. This exclusion often exacerbates the existing socioeconomic challenges, as it limits access to credit, savings, and investment opportunities, which are essential for economic empowerment and growth.

Our Response

We passionately believe in broadening access to financial services, especially for the unbanked and underbanked populations. By developing and promoting affordable banking products, we empower individuals and small businesses, enabling them to participate more fully in the economy.
As African Bank, we are committed to contributing positively to the communities that we serve. This includes investing in social initiatives that support education, and economic development. These efforts are part of our broader strategy to uplift communities and reduce inequality.
We also focus on internal social responsibility by fostering a supportive and inclusive workplace environment. This includes prioritising employee wellbeing, talent development, and diversity within the organisation, ensuring that our workforce is reflective of the broader society it serves.

Digital Transformation

The rapidly evolving technological environment that we operate in, is shaped by both global trends and specific factors within South Africa.. The key aspects of this environment include digital transformation, Financial Technology (FinTech) integration, Cybersecurity, Regulatory Technology (RegTech), Data Analytics and Artificial intelligence (AI), Blockchain and Cryptocurrencies, Digital Payments, Artificial Intelligence and Automation, as well as customer-centric innovations. African Bank is embracing digital transformation to improve efficiency, customer experience, and competitiveness. The shift towards digital payments is a significant trend in South.

Our Response

African Bank is adapting to this development by offering a range of digital payment options, including contactless payments, QR code-based payments, and integration with digital wallets. We are focused on enhancing the speed, security, and reliability of these payment systems.
We continue to invest in digital banking platforms, mobile banking apps, and online services to meet the growing demand for convenient and accessible banking solutions. This includes developing and maintaining secure, user-friendly interfaces that cater for the needs of techsavvy consumers.
While still in the early stages of adoption, blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies are gaining attention in the South African banking sector. At African Bank, we are monitoring developments in this area and exploring potential applications of blockchain to enhance transparency, security, and efficiency in transactions.

Legislative Environment

South Africa’s financial sector is highly developed, supported by stringent governance and legal frameworks that ensure compliance and transparency. These regulations promote stability and trust within the banking system, safeguarding the interests of all stakeholders. African Bank’s operations are also influenced by the Basel III regulations, which aim to improve the regulation, supervision, and risk management within the banking sector. The Bank is required to maintain adequate capital reserves to mitigate risks, such as credit, market, and operational risks. The King IV Report on Corporate Governance also influences the legal environment within which African Bank operates. The current greylisting of South Africa’s financial institutions requires African Bank to further enhance and monitor both domestic and international transactions in line with global anti-money laundering (AML) and Combating the Financing of Terrorism (CFT).

Our Response

The disclosed capital adequacy ratios of 31.4% in 2024 indicate that African Bank operates well above the minimum regulatory requirements ensuring a solid capital base.
At African Bank we have enhanced the customer due diligence processes, reported suspicious transactions, and maintained adequate records to combat money laundering and terrorism financing.

For full release, see:

https://www.africanbank.co.za/media/1twn51y0/fy24-integrated-report-interactive-links-final-25-nov-24.pdf

BIDVEST BANK

About Us

A wholly owned subsidiary of The Bidvest Group Limited, Bidvest Bank is a leading second tier South African bank whose goal is to change the way people and businesses view financial solutions, turning every opportunity into a success.

We pride ourselves in offering our customers the latest Foreign Exchange, Fleet, Business and Personal financial solutions and services. As a proudly South African company, we believe in the importance of transformation that Broad Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) brings. Our positive investment and contribution is a testament to our commitment as a level 4 B-BBEE contributor.

https://www.bidvestbank.co.za/about-us/our-company

28/2/2025

HY2025

Introduction

The Group delivered a decent result for the six months ended 31 December 2024 despite the expected headwinds in bulk commodity movements and renewable energy product sales, as well as an unexpected weak Adcock Ingram (Adcock) performance.

The majority of Bidvest businesses generated substantial and consistent profits, with four of the six divisions reporting trading profit growth. This performance was driven by continued demand for everyday essential products and services supplied by the Group across most sectors of the economy. New business growth, additional tank capacity and bolt-on acquisitions helped to mitigate the impact of price sensitive customers and weaker than anticipated discretionary consumer spend.

Pleasingly, free cash generation was positive with almost half a billion rand increase year on year in this seasonally weaker interim period. This resulted in a flat net debt/EBITDA ratio even though we continued to execute on our growth strategy, concluding six bolt-on acquisitions.

Bidvest Bank, FinGlobal and Bidvest Life are reported as discontinued operations. As announced in December 2024, we are pleased with the respective signed offers that make both financial and strategic sense whilst also providing continued employment for employees. The conditions precedent are mainly regulatory in nature.

Highlights

A slightly lower overall gross profit margin of 27.6% was achieved, due largely to the divisional mix shift. Individually, all but two divisions held or improved their margins. Expenses were well controlled across the divisions.

Four out of the six divisions reported good trading profit growth. The expected contraction in Freight and Commercial Products’ trading profit was primarily due to no maize export volumes handled and cycling of the elevated renewable energy sales base. The unexpected Adcock result was due to declining consumer spend, reduced inventory holdings in the pharmaceutical wholesale channel and the knock-on effect of factory under-recoveries.

Cash generated by operations after working capital increased by an excellent 18.4% to R4.5 billion. The resultant cash conversion ratio improved from 33.4% to 44.8%.

On a FY2024 pro-forma basis, the capital structure of the Group’s continuing operations yielded a higher than overall Return on Funds Employed (ROFE), but a lower Returnon Invested Capital (ROIC). At 31 December 2024, as a result of the flat interim trading profit and continued capital investment in the business, ROFE and ROIC declined to 37.9% (1HFY2024 40.9%) and 14.4% (1HFY2024 15.8%), respectively on a like-for-like basis. ROIC remains above the Group’s weighted cost of capital.

Continuing operations HEPS and Normalised HEPS1 , a measurement used by management to assess the underlying business performance, contracted by 1.1% and 0.4%, respectively.

The Group declared an interim dividend of 470 cents per share, 0.6% higher year on year.

Normalised HEPS, which excludes acquisition costs, amortisation of acquired customer contracts and the impact of one-off taxation events, is a measurement management uses to assess the underlying business performance

Financial overview

Group revenue grew 5.7% to R64.5 billion (1HFY2024: R61.1 billion).

Expenses were again well managed. On an organic basis, the 1.8% increase was below inflation.

Trading profit of R6.3 billion was in line with the prior period and the trading profit margin moderated to 9.7% (1HFY2024 10.3%). In Services South Africa and Branded Products, new business wins, volume growth and a broader product and/ or service offering together with firm gross margin and cost control were the common features of the outstanding trading profit growth of 16.0% and 9.7%, respectively. The ongoing strategic realignment in Automotive to increase diversity and adjust to structural changes through a combination of organic and acquisitive actions, yielded an excellent overall result (+14.1%). Services International delivered strong overall growth (+8.7%) in both hygiene and facilities management services. The domestic businesses performed strongly while the international contribution was boosted by acquisitions, moderated by foreign exchange movements. Negative operating leverage in the bulk commodity terminal operations could not be mitigated by strong performances in the balance of the Freight division (-11.9%). The sharp drop off in renewable energy product sales and profitability together with muted industrial demand culminated in a 26.9% contraction in Commercial Products’ trading profit. Adcock’s trading profit declined by 17.0% due to lower volumes and negative gross margin mix.

Message to shareholders continued

Acquisition costs were incurred for several bolt-on transactions, both locally and abroad. The amortisation of acquired customer contracts increased from R204.2 million to R222.3 million at 31 December 2024, mainly due to the full period impact of acquisitions concluded during the course of FY2024.

On a like-for-like basis, Bidvest’s net debt increased by R5.7 billion since 30 June 2024 to R30.9 billion. The majority, R3.5 billion, of the increase was corporate action driven with the balance representing the dividend payment to shareholders. 60.3% (1HFY2024 73.7%) of net debt is offshore. The multicurrency syndicated revolving credit facility was utilised for the offshore acquisitions, while new preference share funding was raised locally. As part of proactively managing the Group’s debt maturity profile and liquidity, local bonds were successfully refinanced and tenure extended at more attractive interest rate spreads than previously. A tender offer for $322 million of Bidvest’s 3.625% senior notes due 2026 was also completed.

Net finance charges were 5.4% higher at R1.3 billion (1HFY2024: R1.2 billion). Excluding IFRS16 fair value adjustments and hedge costs, the increase was 17.2%. This was as a result of R3.8 billion average higher gross debt as well as the net increase in funding costs due to the mix change as set out above. The Group’s average cost of funding is 6.9% – pre-tax, compared to 6.5% at 30 June 2024.

Share of associate profits amounted to R88.3 million, largely attributable to Adcock’s associate holdings.

The Group’s effective tax rate, excluding capital items, is 26.7% (1HFY2024: 26.8%). The foreign tax differential is 0.8%. Cash generated by operations of R4.5 billion grew by 18.4% compared to the prior interim period (R3.8 billion). The Group absorbed R3.6 billion of working capital, 633 million rand less than a year ago. Trade payables decreased by R3.6 billion on a seasonally consistent basis and the net investment in inventory moderated

Our covenant net debt to adjusted EBITDA remained at 2.0x as at 31 December 2024, unchanged from the prior year, and up from 1.7x as at 30 June 2024. Interest cover was 6.4x (1HFY2024: 7.3x). Group cash conversion was 44.8%, compared to 33.4% in the comparative period.

Group basic earnings per share (EPS) increased from 960.8 cents to 1 016.1 cents, or 5.8%, the result of a 1.3% contraction in continuing operations EPS and a significant increase in profit after tax from discontinued operations as depreciation and amortisation was suspended in terms of IFRS and healthy trading profit growth across the three entities.

Group HEPS increased by 2.8% to 1 015.5 cents. A net impairment recognised on the disposal group held-for-sale in the prior period moderated the growth.

Group normalised HEPS, which excludes acquisition costs, amortisation of acquired customer contracts and the derecognition of depreciation and amortisation in the discontinued operations, grew by 0.6% to 1 057.7 cents. .

Corporate action

Value-accretive corporate action remains a key component of the Group.

Bolt-on acquisitions concluded during the last six months included: Dekra, a vehicle testing station business; WearCheck, a condition monitoring specialist; Serco, a truck body builder; Spec Systems, which has complementary products to the existing print portfolio offering; Nexgen, a facilities services business in the United Kingdom (UK); and Countrywide, a consumable supplier in the UK care sector.

As reported in July 2024, we announced our proposed acquisition of Citron Hygiene, a provider of washroom hygiene products and services in Canada, the USA and the UK. The acquisition is subject to the UK Competition and Markets Authority approval. This process is still ongoing.

Engagement with regards to possible private sector participation in South Africa continues and as described earlier, the disposals of Bidvest Bank and FinGlobal are subject to customary regulatory approvals which are currently being pursued.

Prospects

We remain confident in our clearly defined strategy and that our diverse portfolio of businesses, as a collective, can successfully navigate the environments we operate in. Trading conditions are constrained and rapidly changing, making it more important than ever to deliver value to customers, maintain innovation and be nimble. We will remain focused on what we can control and will continue to contribute to structural advancement in our home base.

To date, structural reform frameworks and ambitions relating to South Africa’s infrastructure build have not translated into basic infrastructure spend and increased demand. The projected spend and envisaged opportunities pose exciting growth prospects for the Group over the medium- to long-term. What remains outstanding is action and project mobilisation.

Domestically, the beneficial impact of lower interest rates and inflation should ease pressure on consumer spend, but broad economic activity is expected to remain tight in the immediate future until pro-growth initiatives are implemented. Contractual business will remain healthy while order books and contract pipelines across the Group are encouraging.

Offshore, geoeconomic fragmentation and elevated policy uncertainty make for tough economic backdrops and sizeable labour-related increases will need to be recovered from customers. The annuity nature of these operations and the increased use of technology will contribute to defensiveness.

The bolt-on acquisitions will continue to add incremental value and restructure processes in several businesses will better align cost bases to demand changes.

We are vigorously working towards closing the financial services disposal transactions, whilst pursuing a handful of bolt-on acquisitions. Addressing upcoming debt maturities proactively is also receiving focused attention.

For full release, see:

https://bidvest.co.za/pdf/results/interim-results/2025/1hfy2025.pdf

CAPITEC BANK HOLDINGS LTD (JSE: CPI)

Capitec Bank is a South African retail bank. As of August 2017, the bank was the second largest retail bank in South Africa, based on number of customers, with 120,000 customers opening new accounts per month.

Key facts

Established: 1 March 2001
Listed on JSE: 18 February 2002
Registration: SA Reserve Bank
Active clients: 14.7 million
Branches: 852*
Employees: over 14 029*
Shareholders’ funds: R25 billion*
International payments partners: MasterCard and Visa
Auditors: PricewaterhouseCoopers Inc.
Registered address: 5 Neutron Road, Techno Park, Stellenbosch

*Financial results for the year ended 28 February 2020

https://www.capitecbank.co.za/about-us/

28/2/2025

FY25 Results

Scope

This report provides information about Capitec’s operational and financial performance for the financial year 1 March 2024 to 28 February 2025. Any material events after this date and up to the board approval date have also been included.

We demonstrate how we will continue to add value for our stakeholders through our business model, strategies, innovations and responsible approach to governance.

Materiality

The integrated annual report focuses on matters that have the potential to materially impact our ability to create and sustain value over the short, medium and long term.

Management is not aware of any material information that was unavailable or any legal prohibitions to the publication of any information in this report.

Guidance applied

This report was compiled in accordance with:

the Companies Act of South Africa, Act 71 of 2008, as amended (Companies Act)
IFRS® Accounting Standards as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board, including IFRIC® interpretations issued by the IFRS Interpretations Committee, the Financial Reporting Pronouncements as issued by the Financial Reporting Standards Council and the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants Financial Reporting Guides as issued by the Accounting Practices Committee
the International Integrated Reporting Framework of the International Integrated Reporting Council
the JSE Listings Requirements
the King IV Report on Corporate Governance for South Africa, 2016TM (King IVTM)
the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs).

Forward-looking statements

Certain statements in this report may be regarded as forward-looking statements or forecasts about the group’s strategy, performance and operations but do not represent an earnings forecast or guarantee. Actual results and outcomes may differ materially from those expressed in or implied by these statements as they relate to future events and circumstances. All forward-looking statements are based solely on the views and considerations of the directors. These forward-looking statements have not been reviewed and reported on by the external auditors.

Assurance

Our joint external auditors, KPMG Inc. (KPMG) and Deloitte & Touche (Deloitte), provided independent assurance on the fair presentation of the financial statements for the year ended 28 February 2025. The external auditors also read the integrated annual report and considered whether any information provided in it is materially inconsistent with the financial statements or their knowledge obtained during the course of their audit or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. No such misstatement was reported.

Board approval

The Capitec board is responsible for overseeing the integrity and completeness of this report. The board, the audit committee, the human resources and remuneration committee (REMCO) and the social, ethics and sustainability committee (SESCO) considered the accuracy and completeness of the report and are satisfied with the reliability of all data and information. In the board’s opinion, this report addresses all matters that are material to the group’s ability to create value. The board is satisfied that the report fairly presents the integrated performance of the group for the reporting period. It was approved and signed on behalf of the board on 22 April 2025 by:

Santie Botha Chairman
Gerrie Fourie Chief executive officer (CEO)

Chairman’s and chief executive officer’s report

Capitec is a diversified financial services group with an ecosystem of solutions that ignites growth and unlock opportunities to make a meaningful difference in people’s lives, empowering them to grow. Our journey over the past 5 years included the addition of Business banking, VAS, Capitec Connect and acquiring our own insurance licence to complement our Personal banking offering. The expansion of our product and service offering resulted in continued growth in our active client base to 24.1 million (2024: 22.2 million).

Our continued focus on and investment in technology and data has been pivotal in the creation of a business that can scale to the benefit of our clients. We have invested in bestin-class platforms and technology which have given management the ability to be agile and have enabled the business to scale. We replatformed our banking app and focused on moving all our data to the cloud and unlocking efficiencies in systems. This has allowed us to accelerate the time to market of new offerings and unlock value for clients by being able to rapidly analyse data and refine our offerings to meet client needs.

Capitec is a high-volume, low-margin business that provides access to simple, transparent and affordable products delivered with a personalised experience. The size of our client base means that we can continue to scale our operations and disrupt markets with our simplified pricing and product offering. As the volumes in our ecosystem increase the incremental cost of transactions decreases allowing us to continually deliver a price benefit to our clients.

From 1 March 2025, we further simplified our transaction pricing while reducing prices for Personal and Business banking clients. Our clients now only need to know 5 key fees: R1 for Capitec-to-Capitec payments, R2 for payments to other banks or cash withdrawals at till points, R3 for debit orders, R6 for immediate payments to other banks and R10 per R1 000 for cash withdrawals at any bank’s cash devices. Capitec Connect bundles are simple and transparent and are priced below the rest of the market.

Our POS business has an easily understandable commission structure with some of the lowest rates in the market. Our insurance products are priced approximately 30% below the market average, and we have developed purpose-lending products with lower interest rates.

Our distribution network gives clients a personalised experience when they interact with our businesses. Our branch network grew to 880 branches that are in the communities we serve. Transacting is performed at the branch self-service terminals, whilst consultants enable us to successfully sell new products into the market and grow client adoption. The app and Personal banking branches serve as the sales channels for VAS, Capitec Connect and insurance products using the capacity created by moving transactions to the app and self-service terminals. The adoption of digital transacting continued to grow, and the number of active app clients grew by 15% to 12.9 million (20% of the South African population).

All our businesses are aligned to Capitec’s purpose and apply the same fundamentals.

Our strategic focus on becoming a trusted financial partner for our clients allowed us to grow in a subdued economic environment, and we will continue to invest in the future to meet our clients’ financial needs.

Growth

Headline earnings for 2025 increased by R3.1 billion (30%), reaching R13.7 billion (2024: R10.6 billion). The group achieved an ROE of 29% (2024: 26%), driven by a rising ROE on transaction and VAS income due to economies of scale, and by a decrease in the CLR to normalised levels.

Net interest income contributed R2.7 billion to the growth in headline earnings. Interest income from investments grew by 18%, attributed to a 14% increase in the average investment portfolio and a 0.2% rise in the yield on the investment portfolio.

Growth in the interest expense was less pronounced than interest income growth due to the 75 basis point decrease in the repo rate since September 2024, which reduced the average rate paid on deposits.

Interest income on lending increased by 17%, as credit granting criteria were eased for specific client segments during the year, leading to a 28% increase in loan disbursements. Business banking loan disbursements specifically grew by 29%.

Despite 12% growth in gross loans and advances, the credit impairment charge on loans and advances decreased by 6%. The group CLR (excluding AvaFin) decreased from 8.7% to 6.9% (including AvaFin: 7.5%). This contributed R973 million to the growth in headline earnings before the inclusion of the AvaFin impairment.

Net non-interest income contributed R3.1 billion to the increase in headline earnings, growing by 22%. Net transaction income and commission, including VAS and Capitec Connect, increased by 25%, with VAS contributing R1.5 billion of the increase (before tax). Digital transactions and card payments (including VAS and Capitec Pay) accounted for 90% (2024: 88%) of transaction volumes excluding system-generated transactions. We continued to invest in the future and gave back R289 million to Business banking clients and merchants by aligning transaction fees to the Personal banking fees and implementing a simplified merchant commission structure. The early implementation of PayShap payments resulted in cost savings of R107 million after tax, which will not recur in the next financial year as other financial institutions continue their implementation of PayShapThe net insurance result contributed R437 million to the increase in headline earnings, with credit life insurance income growing by 1% and funeral and life cover results growing by 44%.

Operating expenses grew by 30%. Growth of 7% was due to the inclusion of AvaFin operating expenses not present in 2024. An increase in employee incentives due to high headline earnings growth contributed another 9% of the growth. Excluding AvaFin operating expenditure and the increase in employee incentives, group operating expenses grew by 14%.

Personal banking

Personal banking has continued to optimise client value. During 2025, we continued using the growing amount of quality data that is available to grow client adoption of our ecosystem of products and to personalise our clients’ experiences by prompting next best actions. As we migrated to the cloud we developed the ability to leverage data more efficiently. Our aim is to be the most trusted financial partner.

Our target is also to be the leading payments provider in South Africa. In previous years we introduced PayShap, Apple Pay, Garmin Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Pay and during 2025 we launched international payments on our app. The volume of transactions on these payment channels has grown significantly. Going forward we will focus on the mass payments market and bring the cost of payments in South Africa down.

The credit business provides clients with next best actions and purpose lending products that can be used for building, vehicle finance and education. We have developed our offer to multiple income earners and encourage clients to use our direct loan and app channels to apply for credit. We are geared for growth and will launch Capitec-funded, secured home loans in the first half of the 2026 financial year. We will enable clients to build their credit scores with an accessible credit card with a limit of R600, repayable within 3 months. Multiple-income earners and small- and mediumsized enterprises (SMEs) will qualify for our new repay-asyou-earn loans that will promote their growth.

Strategic initiatives

The Strategic initiatives team has improved client adoption of our VAS offering and has grown income significantly as these products have matured.

In 2025, Capitec Connect expanded from offering 1 noexpiry data and voice bundle to providing various options for our mobile clients. We introduced 1-, 7- and 30-day validity bundles at the most affordable prices in the market.

For full release, see:

https://www.capitecbank.co.za/globalassets/pages/investor-relations/financial-results/2025/annual-report/integrated_annual_report_2025.pdf

DISCOVERY LIMITED (JSE: DSY)

Discovery Limited is a South Africa-based financial services group that is listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) with its headquarters in Sandton.

Discovery Limited engages in long and short-term insurance, asset management, savings, investment and employee benefits through its various brands. The Group has subsidiaries in South Africa, the United Kingdom, the United States, China, Singapore, and Australia.

About Us

Discovery is a shared value insurance company whose purpose and ambition are achieved through a pioneering business model that incentivizes people to be healthier, and enhances and protects their lives.
Our shared value insurance model delivers better health and value for clients, superior actuarial dynamics for the insurer, and a healthier society.
Our unique approach has underpinned our success globally, with substantial new business growth and an impressive increase in normalized operating profit and headline earnings.

Our Values

Great people
Liberating the best in people
Intellectual leadership
Drive, tenacity and urgency
Innovation and optimism
Business astuteness and prudence
Customer, customer, customer
Integrity, honesty and fairness
Force for good

https://www.discovery.co.za/corporate/our-business

4/3/2025

Unaudited Interim Results

Commentary

Discovery Group achieved strong growth in the period ended 31 December 2024, with normalised operating profit up 27% to R7 020 million, headline earnings up 34% to R4 267 million and normalised headline earnings up 34% to R4 350 million. New business annualised premium income (API) declined 12% to R12 534 million, but increased 6% excluding the Sasolmed closed medical scheme take-on in the prior period.

GROUP OVERVIEW AND SALIENT RESULTS

Salient Group results for the period ended 31 December 2024

The period under review was characterised by increased geo-political complexities. Global inflation rates have moderated, however, the easing of interest rates has been stalled by increased uncertainty around global policy shifts and trade tensions, with consumers and economic growth remaining constrained in many regions. In South Africa (SA), confidence increased following the positive election outcome, the programmes driving energy and logistics reforms, and the continued constructive engagement around the National Health Insurance (NHI) Act to facilitate a viable journey to universal healthcare coverage in SA. The fiscal environment in the United Kingdom (UK) remains constrained with a knock-on impact of the National Health Service (NHS) backlogs keeping the demand for and utilisation of private medical insurance (PMI) elevated. China has continued to face macroeconomic and growth constraints, however, bond and equity markets delivered a strong performance over the period following some signs of stabilisation.

Strong in-period performance in the growth phase, with consistent growth across the two composites

Discovery has emerged from its cycle of significant investment. That phase focused on creating new avenues for long-term growth, through globalising its capabilities and footprint and building new growth ventures, most notably, Discovery Bank. This has positioned the Group for a new distinct phase of scaled organic growth, with focused execution through its newly formed global composite, Vitality, and its domestic business, Discovery South Africa.

Over the period, the Group executed its growth strategy delivering growth in normalised profit from operations of 27%. Both composites achieved normalised profit from operations of 27%, with strong contributions across the Group. Headline and normalised headline earnings both increased by 34%, as the cost of financing less investment returns remained broadly unchanged. The normalised return on equity increased to 15% annualised, from 12.6% in the prior period.

The Group’s embedded value increased to R120 billion, which represents a 19% annualised return on embedded value (RoEV). This included a positive contribution from experience variances over the period, reflecting the competitive dynamics of the Shared-value Insurance model, a strong improvement from non-covered businesses, as well as a favourable economic basis and exchange rate.

The Vitality Shared-value Insurance model is a key driver of performance

The strong performance demonstrates the effective deployment of the Vitality Shared-value Insurance model and its applicability and efficacy across the different industries and markets. The Group is driving continued improvement in key value drivers as it leverages its data and technology assets to evolve the model through Vitality AI. This platform will allow greater and more precise understanding of individuals’ health risks and determine the exact actions to improve health outcomes, quantifying the impact on health and mortality. These will be delivered through engaging, hyper-personalised product experiences to encourage healthier behaviour.

The Group is financially resilient in a complex and uncertain environment

Capital ratios remained strong across every business and liquidity at each regulated entity, and at the centre, remains well in excess of the required buffers. The cash conversion ratio remained steady at 75% of after-tax normalised operating profit compared with the prior period, notwithstanding the strong growth in normalised profit from operations. Favourable claims experience in Discovery Life and Discovery Insure, as well as the increased use of financial reinsurance funding for VitalityLife, mitigated the expected dilution impact from Discovery Health’s slower inherent growth and high intrinsic cash conversion rate. The cash conversion ratio is expected to normalise back within the Group’s 60% to 70% range for the full financial year. This strong underlying cash generation facilitated a further c.R1 billion of financing repayments within Discovery Life and c.R500 million net debt repayments by the Group.

DISCOVERY SA

Discovery SA increased normalised operating profit by 27% to R5 520 million. The composite focused on driving quality new business at appropriate margins, with new business increasing 6% to R9 019 million, excluding the prior period take-on of the Sasolmed closed medical scheme (decreased 18%, including Sasolmed).

Discovery Bank

Discovery Bank (DB) increased revenues by 42% and improved its operating loss before new business acquisition costs by 145%, returning a profit of R69 million. The overall loss was 57% better than the prior period and the Bank achieved monthly break-even in December, ahead of plan.

Discovery Bank’s total client base grew 32%. Non-interest revenue (NIR) continued to grow steadily, increasing 49%, driven by the growth in clients as well as fee income per client, through increased product take-up and engagement levels. Payment volumes increased 47% and spend values increased 42% compared to the prior period.

The Bank remained focused on high-quality growth and customer primacy, given challenging macro-economic conditions. Deposits increased by 27% and advances by 37%, driven mainly by the launch of home loans, which ended the period at R802 million. Net interest income (NII) grew by 34% resultant from an increase in deposits and lower cost of funding.

Discovery Health

Discovery Health (DH) achieved an 8% increase in operating profit while continuing strategic investments in technology, innovation, artificial intelligence, and personalised healthcare. Innovations such as the launch of Personal Health Pathways and the Active Smart plan within the Discovery Health Medical Scheme (DHMS), are driving continued product differentiation and managing the forces that drive up healthcare costs. New business increased 9%, excluding the Sasolmed closed medical scheme take-on in the prior period (decreased 31%, including Sasolmed). During the period, DH administered the Discovery Health Medical Scheme (DHMS) and 18 closed medical schemes, all of which performed strongly. Revenue from non-medical scheme products continued to grow, accounting for 15.8% of total DH revenue and underscoring opportunities in adjacent markets.

DHMS demonstrated resilience amid low growth in the open medical scheme market and challenging macro-economic conditions, maintaining a 57.9% market share among open medical schemes. Unaudited 2024 solvency remains robust at 31.0%, well above the 25% regulatory requirement.

Discovery Life

Discovery Life (DL) grew operating profits by 15% to R2 612 million through strong claims performances in both the Individual Life (+12%) and Group Life (+61%) segments. This offset a significant reduction in the insurance finance income and expense (IFIE), which is impacted by the lower systematic interest rates at the start of the financial year.

New business API volumes decreased by 4% compared to the prior period, primarily due to a reduction in Group Life new business volumes. DL maintained its leading position in the affluent retail protection market with a market share of 27%.

The Discovery Life Limited embedded value (including Invest) delivered an annualised RoEV of 21%, driven by positive variances and lower interest rates at the end of the period. Claims experience, in particular, delivered a significant positive variance to the embedded value. Leadership remains focused on managing the negative policy alterations experience and are implementing a well-defined mitigation strategy.

The VNB margin for Individual Life increased to 5.4% at December 2024 from 5.0% at June 2024, primarily due to efficient expense controls and reduced interest rates. The improvement in the Individual Life VNB margin was offset by the decline in the Group Life new business margin, given lower Group Life new business volumes, which tend to be lumpy in nature. The combined Individual and Group Life VNB margin was 3.6%.

Discovery Life maintained strong solvency and liquidity positions, with a solvency coverage ratio of 183% and liquidity coverage of 196%. DL cash generation (including Invest) was strong, increasing to R1 523 million (prior period R1 093 million), before a R981 million net repayment of financing arrangements (prior period R322 million).

Discovery Invest

Discovery Invest increased operating profit by 46% to R904 million. Assets under management grew 16% as a result of strong market performance and positive net inflows. Growth in higher margin offshore and single premiums tranche products drove increased fee income. As disclosed in the Group’s full-year 2024 financial reporting, the earnings profile of guaranteed endowments was amended to provide a more accurate estimate of the ongoing profit release profile over the duration of a policy, resulting in a R68 million earnings rebase during this period. Additionally, the business generated an asset liability match (ALM) gain following changes to the management of the portfolio, amounting to R85 million. Excluding the rebase and one-off ALM gain, profit grew by 19%, in line with revenue growth.

Discovery Insure

Discovery Insure’s (DI) personal lines business delivered operating profit of R372 million, as the operating margin increased significantly to 12%, compared with 0% in the prior period. This demonstrates the continued focus on building a margin resilient to increased weather unpredictability, through pricing discipline and claims efficiency initiatives, particularly on the motor vehicle book, which experienced a significant reduction in accident and theft claims frequency. In addition to these improvements, severe weather in the prior period resulted in elevated claims while benign weather conditions in the current period resulted in the loss ratio being c2.5% lower than expected. The business remains focused on driving management actions to ensure margin resilience. Furthermore, DI continues to leverage the Sharedvalue Insurance model to optimise pricing, while ensuring selective retention and new business, resulting in insurance revenue (earned premiums) increasing 10%, despite slightly lower new business.

For full release, see:

https://www.discovery.co.za/assets/discoverycoza/corporate/investor-relations/2025/results-booklet.pdf

FIRST NATIONAL BANK

First National Bank (FNB; Afrikaans: Eerste Nasionale Bank (ENB)) is one of South Africa's "big five" banks. It is a division of FirstRand Limited, a large financial services conglomerate, which trades on the Johannesburg Securities Exchange (JSE), under the symbol: FSR. FNB is also listed on the Botswana Stock Exchange under the symbol FNBB and is a constituent of the BSE Domestic Company Index

About Us

FNB is the oldest bank in South Africa, and can be traced back to the Eastern Province Bank formed in Grahamstown in 1838. Today, FNB trades as a division of FirstRand Bank Limited. When looking at FNB's history, two things in particular stand out. The first is a story of survival - different circumstances in South Africa have posed many great challenges in our history, all of which FNB has successfully met. This track record provides a strong foundation for our future challenges. The second is a story of people - our history has always been firmly influenced by the needs of the people we serve.

The Acacia tree in our brand logo is a suitable representation of our history. Our roots run deep in South Africa, and we have grown thanks to our commitment to serving the needs of our clients and communities.

A landmark development in FNB's history took place in 1998 when the financial services interests of Rand Merchant Bank Holdings and Anglo American were merged to form FirstRand Limited. In the process, FNB was delisted from the JSE on 22 May 1998 to become a wholly-owned subsidiary of FirstRand, which was listed on the JSE on 25 May 1998. On 30 June 1999, the banking interests of FirstRand formally merged into a single entity to form FirstRand Bank. FNB, WesBank and RMB now trade as divisions of FirstRand Bank.

https://www.fnb.co.za/about-fnb/about-us.html

FIRSTRAND LIMITED (JSE: FSR)

About Firstrand

FirstRand Limited, through its portfolio of integrated financial services businesses, operates in South Africa, certain markets in sub-Saharan Africa, the UK, and India.

The group’s track record of delivering superior returns to shareholders has been achieved through a combination of organic growth, acquisitions, innovation and the creation of completely new businesses.

Listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) and the Namibian Stock Exchange (NSX), FirstRand Limited is the largest financial institution by market capitalization in Africa.

FirstRand can provide its customers with differentiated and competitive value propositions due to its unique and highly flexible model of leveraging the most appropriate brand, distribution channel, licence and operating platform available within the portfolio. This approach, which is underpinned by the disciplined allocation of financial resources and enabled by disruptive digital and data platforms, allows the group to fully optimize the franchise value of its portfolio. This has resulted in a long track record of consistent growth in high quality earnings, and superior and sustainable returns for shareholders.

As demonstrated in the schematic below, the group’s strategic framework accommodates a broad set of growth opportunities across the financial services universe from a product, market, segment and geographic perspective.

https://www.firstrand.co.za/the-group/about-firstrand/

31/12/2024

Firstrand Namibia Interim Results December 2024

Overview of financial results

Operating environment

The Namibian financial system continues to play a vital role in supporting economic stability and growth amidst global and domestic challenges. Key sectors such as mining, driven by investments in oil exploration and uranium production, remain central to Namibia's growth. While, severe drought conditions intensify economic challenges, with the agriculture and water sectors being particularly affected.

Private Sector Credit Extension (PSCE) growth in December reach 4.0% year on year (y/y), significantly above the 1.9% y/y growth recorded in December 2023. This was the highest growth observed in two years and is mainly due to corporate credit demand which increased 5.4% y/y. Household demand increased 3.1% y/y in December, subdued by low growth in mortgage credit.

Financial performance

The six months ended 31 December 2024 FirstRand Namibia profit for the period increased by 10.8% to N$926 million. The financial performance of FirstRand Namibia reflected resilience while these results underscore the group's strategic focus on sustainable growth, prudent cost management with credit remaining within appetite.

FirstRand Namibia achieved a revenue growth of 3.2%, with the return on equity improving year-on-year to 29.6% from 27.8%. The increase in headline earnings reflects strong operational performance and strategic growth initiatives, resulting in a notable rise from N$836 million in 2023 to N$925 million.

Interest income

Net interest income (NII) increased by 13.0%, from N$1 464 million at December 2023 to N$1 655 million, despite the repo rate dropping by 75 basis points for the period. The NII increase is attributable to a strong balance sheet growth as well as the result of the Asset Liability Management (ALM) strategy. Post period ended 31 December 2024 a decision was taken to exit the structural ALM hedge. Management continues to actively monitor ALM risk, and where desirable will engage in ALM management activities that align with ALM frameworks, risk appetite and Banking regulations. Gross advances increased by 8.5% and totaled N$41 185 million (2023: N$37 957 million). Interest earned on advances is up with 6.0% from N$2 192 million to N$2 324 million. While deposits grew by 6.6% and totaled N$47 881 million (2023: N$44 926 million). Deposit holders earned N$867 million (2023: N$897 million) in interest across all deposit accounts for the period, reflecting a decline of 3.4%. This decrease was primarily driven by the lower repo rate, which led to a reduction in interest rates offered on deposit accounts.

Impairments

Total impairment charges increased year-on-year to N$263 million (2023: N$191 million), while the credit loss ratio (CLR) is up at 0.7% (2023: 0.5%).

This increase is attributable to specific impairments and was anticipated in the deteriorating economic climate and continuation on from the previous financial year.

Non-performing loans (NPL) increased to N$2 482 million (2023: N$1 995 million) with an NPL ratio of 6.0% which is an improvement from 6.1% reported as at 30 June 2024.

All provisions recognised reflect the groups best estimates against available data and scenario analysis and are measured prudently given the prevailing risks in the economy as well as taking any regulatory changes into account that might impact the provisioning and write-offs required. Maintaining an adequate level of provisions remains a key focus area for the bank's risk management strategy. A downward trend in NPLs is anticipated as the lag to rate cuts align.

Non-interest revenue

Non-interest revenue (NIR) (including insurance service result) increased by 9.8%, to N$1 344 million from N$1 224 million, reflecting a fee and commission income growth of 11.3%, supported by strong growth in our customer base and increase in transaction volumes. The bank seeks to maintain an optimal balance between NII and NIR to foster a diversified revenue stream coupled with its strategic focus on its insurance and investment and wealth management offerings that further support diversification. As of 31 December 2024, NII accounted for 55.2% (2023: 54.5%) of revenue, while NIR made up 44.8% (2023: 45.5%). Net fee and commission income represents 84.7% (2023: 83.8%) of group NIR. Overall active customers stood at 787 294 for December 2024 (2023: 734 270), up 7.2% from previous year and overall volumes increased by 8.3%, reaching 26 million (2023: 24 million).

The below two initiatives were launched during the period under review that is aligned with our financial inclusion strategy:

The H.E.R (Helping Every Women Rise) Banking product, which is a tailored banking solution designed to empower women in business.
Effective 1 July 2024 Senior lifestyle accounts pay zero monthly account fees and require no minimum balance.

Operating expenses

Effective cost management strategies are key for FirstRand Namibia as it aims to optimise its operating expenses and enhance profitability. Operating expenses grew 8.1% to N$1 392 million from N$1 287 million, landing the group’s cost-to-income ratio at 46.4% (2023: 48.3%), maintaining it comfortably below 50%.

Salary costs are integral to maintaining high service standards and achieving strategic goals and is up 5.0% to N$791 million and accounts for 56.8% of total operating expenses. The increase in staff cost is due to the annual salary increase, effective August 2024, that averaged 5.8%. Headcount increased by 2.9% from 2 288 staff members to 2 335. Growth in staff expenditure is driven by strategic hiring for key roles aligned with segment objectives and ensuring alignment with long-term organisational goals and due to PSD 9 regulatory requirements that necessitated the hiring of additional staff.

Demonstrating our dedication to advancing Namibian sports at all levels, FNB Namibia proudly took on the role of official naming sponsor for the cricket stadium and associate sponsor for the cricket national team.

Total IT spend, including staff, amortisation and depreciation, increased by 6.7% from N$423 million to N$452 million making up 31.9% of group expenses. Investing in digital technologies, data, information technology and automation processes continues to be a key priority for the group. These efforts are focused on operational efficiency, driving innovation, and elevating customer experiences.

FirstRand Namibia contributed 1% of the group’s headline earnings amounting to N$17 million to the FirstRand Namibia Foundation.

Balance sheet

The structure of the balance sheet reflects the group’s long-term strategy to increase balance sheet resilience, diversify credit exposures across sectors and segments, increase asset marketability, and reduce reliance on institutional funding.

Net advances to customers grew by 7.8% to N$39 352 million which was supported by FirstRand Namibia’s innovative product offerings across all segments and mainly driven by increase in term loans and vehicle asset finance that grew by 25.0% and 21.3% respectively. The year-on-year view also highlights an increase of 2.2% in retail, 8.8% in commercial, and 31.2% in RMB, respectively.

The increase in deposits of 6.6% was mainly driven by growth in savings accounts and fixed & notice deposits accounts of 26.3% and 15.7% respectively.

The entities return on asset (ROA) increased indicating effective use of assets and a strong profitability.

Capital and regulation

During the period ended December 2024, the Group through FNB Namibia Limited, raised N$500 million in Tier 2 capital notes on the Namibia Securities Exchange (NSX). This issuance represents the first Basel III compliant note to be placed in the Namibian market, with its success paving the way for future issuances. The final orderbook was oversubscribed by 1.5 times, demonstrating strong investor confidence for the credit.

As of December 2024, the capital adequacy ratio stood at 19.1% (2023: 16.4%), while the Tier 1 capital ratio was 16.9% (2023: 15.5%). The group maintained a strong capitalised position throughout the period, consistently exceeding the minimum regulatory requirements. Our conservative capital position provides a solid foundation for sustainable growth, ensuring resilience while seizing new opportunities.

The board declared an interim dividend of 192.32 cents per share, to continue our long-term strategy of growing a sustainable balance sheet and building a globally competitive Namibia. The long-term dividend cover range remains unchanged at 1.5x to 2.5x.

Events subsequent to the reporting date

Apart from the interim dividend declared, the directors are not aware of any material events, as defined in IAS 10, occurring between 31 December 2024 and the date of authorisation of the results announcement.

Prospects

While the Namibian economy faces some near-term challenges, there are strong reasons for optimism heading into 2025. Certain key sectors in the primary industry such as oil and gas exploration, uranium, copper and agriculture coupled with supportive policy measures, should lay the foundation for sustained economic growth in the medium term. The group remains well positioned to participate in opportunities in the oil and gas sector as they emerge.

In the period under review, the business has delivered solid results but is expecting growth in the second half of the year to be more muted. The impact of the rate cutting cycle (a total of 75 bps from August 2024 up to December 2024) will continue to lower endowment and impact NII growth. Also, the period under review benefited from base effects in the comparative period that do not manifest for the second half. Changes in the credit write off policy will also result in a higher overall cost of credit for the year versus the first half.

Despite the above, the group’s strategy and customer franchise is well-positioned to navigate the evolving and dynamic economic landscape, as reflected in the strong operational performance achieved during the first six months of the 2025 financial period. Combined with prudent financial management, a robust risk management framework, and ongoing investments in human capital and technology, the group’s strategic priorities enable it to deliver exceptional client service while driving sustainable growth and shareholder value.

For full release, see:

https://www.firstrandnamibia.com.na/media/investors/financial-results/firstrand-namibia-interim-results-december-2024.pdf

GRINDROD BANK

About Us

Grindrod Bank is a registered Financial Services (FSP 6317) and Credit Provider (NCRCP25), regulated by the South African Reserve Bank and Financial Services Conduct Authority, authorized to offer a range of products and services.

We operate within the bounds of good corporate governance and ethical business practice, that is informed by King IV, making sure that our strategy and operations are also aligned with the requirements and guidelines set in the Basel III framework.

We at Grindrod Bank are proud of our well-established and entrenched corporate culture that demands the highest of ethical standards for our employees.

Our Services

With dedication and focus on our client offering, Grindrod Bank is able to provide and facilitate tailor-made product sets and personalized service to our clients. We continue to enjoy a consistent client base that has grown year-on-year, with a significant number of our clients have been with Grindrod Bank since its inception. We pride ourselves on the close, personal relationship we have with all our clients while recognizing our role in making a meaningful contribution to the South African economy through both job-creation and investment opportunities.

Grindrod Bank believes that in order to bring in new players into the economy, the products and services available in the financial sector should be adapted to meet the unique challenges faced by SMEs and entrepreneurs from previously disadvantaged communities.

https://www.grindrodbank.co.za/Pages/GrindrodBankOverview

31/12/2024

Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements And Cash Dividend Declaration

Operational Excellence Underpins Resilient Performance And Investment Aimed At Growth

Grindrod reported a resilient performance for 2024 as it focused on delivering the best in industry expertise with an in-depth understanding of operating in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and East African Community (EAC). We are steadfast in our commitment to efficiently and cost-effectively deliver Africa’s commodities globally through integrated logistics solutions.

We are resolute in driving a safe working culture with zero-harm to our employees. We have a zero tolerance towards unsafe working practices. The BASSOPA safety campaign adopted groupwide in 2024 is yielding positive results. Our lost time injury frequency rate, a measure of injuries for every 200 000 hours worked, improved to 0.33 (2023: 0.48) against the target of 0.5, however, Grindrod sadly reported a fatality.

We achieved core headline earnings of R1 003.8 million, delivered under difficult trading circumstances following intermittent Lebombo/Ressano Garcia border closures into the last quarter of 2024, and disruptive cyclonic flooding in the first half of the year.

In order to secure our position as a meaningful player in the future of SADC’s and EAC’s logistics, we continue to pursue our strategy execution relentlessly.

Following the active restructuring of the Group in recent years to focus on the core operations, the immediate priority for the business remains to optimise costs and efficiencies across the Group and logistics value chain where we operate. Grindrod has streamlined its operations through responsible divestitures, raising R500 million from the sale of the propertybacked loans receivable to African Bank, to focus on bulk handling, containerised cargo handling, rail and logistics in SADC and EAC.

Grindrod is well positioned to aggressively pursue growth in parallel with its optimisation workstream. This includes seeking opportunities within established capabilities as well as identifying value accretive bolt-on acquisitions. The growth pipeline identified includes several logistics infrastructure-led investment opportunities to the potential value of R8 billion across the core portfolio.

The year was marked by the acquisition of the remaining 35% shareholding in the Matola terminal for R1 426.4 million which is expected to be concluded in FY25. The acquisition underscores Grindrod’s alignment with the port of Maputo’s expansion plans, enhancing its position as a critical logistics hub for Southern Africa’s mining sector.

In the first half of 2024, Grindrod was selected by Transnet National Ports Authority to develop and operate the first full-scale container handling facility at the port of Richards Bay in KwaZulu-Natal. The investment amount is estimated at a minimum R500 million over the facility’s 25-year life of operation.

Grindrod’s focus on rail is evident through the successful return of 13 locomotives from Sierra Leone, where its operations demonstrated proficiency in heavy-haul logistics. On its phase two of increasing its reach in South Africa’s rail network, Grindrod will seek to acquire new and modern rolling stock fleet. The company is also enhancing its service offerings through active partnerships with rail authorities, ensuring sustainable cargo flows for the benefit of customers and stakeholders.

Grindrod is uniquely poised to take advantage of the numerous opportunities in the logistics space as South Africa progresses on its logistics network reform agenda. Specifically, the Group is participating in both the immediate and medium-term open access slots across the rail network in South Africa. The business will be discerning in the corridors it tenders for, evaluating the opportunities against a set of criteria including efficiencies, customer commitments, understanding of the corridor and the impact on the overall returns across the logistics value chain.

The optimisation process that has allowed Grindrod to become an efficient and focused logistics services provider has resulted in a leaner business; however, the business remains cognisant of its need to ensure that the balance sheet remains appropriately capacitated to meaningfully participate in strategic opportunities, creating long-term value for shareholders.

Based on this year’s financial performance and a healthy cash position, the Grindrod board of directors approved a final dividend of 17.0 cents per share, resulting in a total dividend of 40 cents per share declared from 2024 earnings and a total cash distribution of R267.2 million to the shareholders. The resulting dividend cover is 3.6 times on core headline earnings, comfortably within Grindrod’s guidance of 3 to 4 times.

We continue to drive our strategic growth, and the positive momentum achieved in the last few years. The growth potential, however, is currently constrained by the company’s size in a highly competitive market where it competes against established international logistics players of scale. As a result, Grindrod is pursuing funding options, matching its future investment opportunities.

Our capital allocation framework, growth project pipeline, track record of operational performance, and strong balance sheet allow us to invest in future growth and maintain strong cash returns for shareholders.

Xolani Mbambo

Grindrod Chief Executive Officer

Segment Performance

Performance The Port of Maputo’s drybulk terminal, which handles mainly chrome, achieved 14.3 million tonnes for the FY 24, a growth of 14% on the prior period. The strong volume performance momentum into the second half of the year sustained the port against the impact of the post election protests. In August, the port achieved a record 1.4 million tonnes underpinned by the buoyant chrome market, high stock holding on the quayside and operational efficiencies. Grindrod’s drybulk terminals in Mozambique handled 11.0 million tonnes, 15% down on the prior year, impacted by post election protests and the subdued coal market. In South Africa, Grindrod handled 5.5 million tonnes in its Richards Bay drybulk and Durban multipurpose terminals, which included a record performance at the Richards Bay Navitrade facility.

Grindrod’s 24.7% share of earnings from the Port of Maputo was R326 million (2023: R236 million), up 38% on FY 23. The earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation “EBITDA”) margin in the Port and Terminals segment declined by 6% due to low volumes impacted by protests and the subdued coal market.

Capital expenditure growth

Grindrod’s core business reported headline earnings of R1.0 billion against R1.4 billion in 2023, down 26%. Earnings were impacted by the subdued coal market, post electoral protest action in Mozambique in Q4 of 2024 and continuing logistics constraints which drove EBITDA margins down to 27% from 34% in the prior year. Consequently, cash generated from operations was down 32% to R784.4 million (2023: R1 150.2 million), however, the cash conversion ratio was strong at 92%.

The transaction to dispose of the North Coast property backed loans and advances for R500 million necessitated fair value losses of R427.2 million (on the fair value loan) and expected credit losses of R95.7 million (on the amortised cost loans). In addition, losses of R165.5 million (2023: R56.1 million) were recognised relating to the warranties provided on ringfenced loans disposed as part of the Grindrod Bank disposal in 2022.

For full release, see:

https://www.grindrod.com/share_holder_documents/document_2545/2024%20Grindrod%20Final%20Results%20Booklet.pdf

INVESTEC LTD (JSE: INL)

Investec is an Anglo-South African international banking and wealth management group. It provides a range of financial products and services to a client base in Europe, Southern Africa, and Asia-Pacific. Investec is dual-listed on the London Stock Exchange and the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.[5] It is a constituent of the FTSE 250 index.

Corporate Governance

Integrity and trust

Integrity is our core value and determines everything we do. This is because we understand and respect the need to promote and maintain trust in our business.

Our board sets the tone through the manner in which it conducts itself, and oversees the structures and framework for our corporate governance.

Equally, each business area and every employee of the group is responsible for acting in accordance with our values. We conduct our business and measure behaviour and practices against these values.

We operate under a dual-listed companies (DLC) structure, and consider the corporate governance principles and regulations of both the UK and South Africa before adopting the appropriate standards for the group, which comply with requirements in both jurisdictions.

All international business units operate in accordance with the above determined corporate governance principles, in addition to those of their jurisdiction, but with clear adherence at all times to group values and culture.

https://www.investec.com/en_int/welcome-to-investec/about-us/corporate-governance.html

NEDBANK GROUP LTD (JSE: NED)

Group Overview

Nedbank Group is incorporated in the Republic of South Africa and our registration number is 1966/010630/06. Our ordinary shares have been listed on JSE Limited (the JSE) since 1969 under the share code: NED and on the Namibian Stock Exchange since 2007 under the share code: NBK. Our ISIN is ZAE000004875.

We offer the following solutions through our frontline clusters, Nedbank Corporate and Investment Banking, Nedbank Retail and Business Banking, Nedbank Wealth and Nedbank Africa Regions:

A wide range of wholesale and retail banking services.
A growing insurance, asset management and wealth management offering.

Our presence

Nedbank Group's primary market is South Africa; however, we are continuing to expand into the rest of Africa.
Outside South Africa we operate in five countries in Southern African Development Community (SADC), through subsidiaries and banks in Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, eSwatini (Swaziland) and Zimbabwe.
In Central and West Africa, we have a strategic alliance with Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI) and we have representative offices in Angola and Kenya.
Outside Africa we have a presence in key global financial centres to provide international financial services for Africa-based multinational and high-net-worth clients, in Guernsey, Isle of Man, Jersey and London, and we have a representative office in Dubai.

Key facts about Nedbank Group at 31 December 2020

Total assets: R1,2 trillion
Assets under management: R375 billion
Headline earnings: R5 440 million
CET1 ratio: 10,9%
Tier 1 CAR: 12,1%
Wholesale-biased business model
Outlets: 633 (including Africa Regions)
ATMs: 4 417 (including Africa Regions)
Employees: 28 324
Clients: 7,6 million (including Africa Regions)
Digitally active clients: 2,2 million
Digital sales up to 49% (2019: 21%) on total sales
Payment relief to 400 000 clients under D3/2020: R121bn
Market leading digital innovations
Top tier client satisfaction metrics NPS 41%
Country presence: 39 in Africa through our Ecobank alliance
BBBEE contributor status: Level 1
Carbon-neutral operations
MSCI ESG Rating: AA

https://www.nedbank.co.za/content/nedbank/desktop/gt/en/aboutus/about-nedbank-group/Group-overview.html

4/3/2025

2024 Annual Results

Improved financial performance, while making steady progress towards meeting our ROE targets

The operating environment in 2024 remained challenging, with economic activity relatively weak as evident in SA GDP growth expectations of only 0,5% for the year when compared with 0,7% in 2023. The first 6 months were particularly difficult given geopolitical uncertainty, high interest rates and general uncertainty ahead of SA’s national election. A peaceful and fair election outcome and the swift formation of a government of national unity brought cautious optimism in financial markets resulting in lower bond yields, stronger equity markets and a stronger rand, while credit default swap spreads also improved. As the environment improved gradually into the fourth quarter of the year, inflation declined further towards the low end of the SARB target range (its lowest level since the Covid-19 pandemic), the MPC cut interest rates by a cumulative 50 bps and business confidence improved. Household credit growth, however, continued to slow to 3,0% by the end of the year, and corporate credit growth increased by 5,4%, remaining relatively volatile and not yet reflective of a material improvement in fixed-investment activity.

In this context, Nedbank Group delivered an improved financial performance as headline earnings increased by 8% to R16,9bn and the group’s ROE strengthened to 15,8%, from 15,1% in the prior period, reflecting steady progress towards our ROE targets. HE growth was underpinned by good NIR growth, a lower impairment charge and targeted expense management, offsetting muted NII growth given slower loan growth and margin pressure. DHEPS increased by 11%, benefiting from the share buy-back we executed in 2023. Balance sheet metrics all remained very strong, enabling the declaration of a final dividend of 1 104 cents per share, up by 8% at a payout ratio of 57%.

From a strategy perspective, a key highlight of 2024 was the fundamental completion of our Managed Evolution IT transformation, which has delivered a refreshed modern technology platform. This platform, along with our enhanced digital capabilities, supported ongoing strong digital growth, market-leading client satisfaction metrics, solid main-banked client gains, and higher levels of cross-sell. Under strategic portfolio tilt we recorded market share gains in key areas such as home loans, vehicle finance, wholesale term-lending and retail deposits. We also continued to create wider positive impacts through approximately R183bn of lending that supports sustainable development finance, aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. The increase in renewable energy exposures of 32% to almost R40bn and Nedbank being awarded significant renewable energy mandates in Q4 2024 reinforce our leadership in this space. These achievements led to our being named SA Bank of the Year by the prestigious magazine, The Banker.

Our Target Operating Model 2.0 programme has also ended, having delivered cumulative cost benefits of R3bn through headcount reduction, real estate floor space savings and back-office optimisation, resulting in a more client-focused RBB Cluster. Under our new Transform agenda, which emerged as part of our strategy refresh in 2024, our focus is expanding to new areas of growth such as extracting commercial value from our technology investments, with an emphasis on leveraging data and AI, optimising end-to-end processes (Nedbank Intelligent Hyper Automation) and payment modernisation, cross-sell of insurance products to the Nedbank client base, diversifying our portfolio into East Africa by leveraging our strengths and capabilities in CIB, and the launch of a dedicated new offering to transform how mid-sized corporates access financial solutions through our commercial banking business, as well as building out our corporate transactional franchise.

To sharpen execution of our strategy, compete more effectively in the market, enhance cross-sell and unlock new growth opportunities, we have embarked on an organisational restructure of our RBB and Nedbank Wealth clusters, evolving into an organisational design more focused on client centricity. The new structure will see the creation of Personal and Private Banking (PPB), an individual/non-juristic focused cluster, and Business and Commercial Banking (BCB), a juristic-focused cluster. We are excited about the opportunities this will unlock, and I look forward to sharing our progress in the coming reporting periods.

Looking forward, from a macro perspective, we remain cautiously optimistic and expect the economic environment in SA to improve off a low 2024 base, although risks associated with global geopolitics and trade wars remain. SA’s GDP is forecast to increase by 1,4% in 2025, inflation to remain well within the SARB target range of 3% to 6%, and the South African prime lending rate to decline by 50 bps in 2025, reaching 10,75%. Corporate lending should pick up while growth in household lending is expected to remain muted. Our improved financial performance in 2024 – together with the progress made in executing on our strategy, our new transform agenda and better economic prospects – gives us confidence that we will continue to make progress to increase our ROE* to greater than 16% in 2025, greater than 17% in the medium term and above 18% in the longer term. I am extremely comfortable with the strong foundations that Nedbank has built, including fortress capital and liquidity levels, a strong and vibrant culture, our focus on diversity, equity and inclusion, leading ESG credentials and significant investments in technology, all culminating in exciting prospects for the group.

I would like to express my gratitude to all Nedbankers for their commitment and unwavering support this past year. Thank you to our 7,6 million retail and wholesale clients who have entrusted Nedbank with serving their financial needs. We appreciate the support of the investment community, regulators and our other stakeholders. As Nedbank, we will continue to play our role in society as we fulfil our purpose of using our financial expertise to do good.

Jason Quinn

Chief Executive

2024 overview

Operating Environment

Volatile & uncertain – sociopolitical issues & election outcomes
Financial markets – reflect cautious optimism, although rising concerns around the potential impact of US foreign policy
Structural reforms – some green shoots in energy security, infrastructure projects announced, business confidence & corporate loan growth
Cyclical impacts – the consumer is still under pressure & household loan growth muted. We expect a shallow declining interest rate cycle

Strategy

Strategy execution (perform) – positive outcomes & heightened focus on execution
Strategy refresh (transform) – identified exciting new opportunities that will support sustainable growth into the future

Financial Performance

Improved financial performance – DHEPS +11% & ROE up to 15,8%, supported by strong NIR growth, lower impairments & targeted expense management, offset by slow balance sheet & NII growth
Strong balance sheet – enabling a final DPS of 1 104 cents, +8%

For full release, see:

https://www.nedbank.co.za/content/dam/nedbank/site-assets/AboutUs/Information%20Hub/Financial%20Results/Annual%20Results/2024/2024-annual-results-booklet-double-page-nedbank.pdf

OLD MUTUAL LTD (JSE: OMU)

About Us

Our Group was established in Cape Town in 1845 as South Africa’s first mutual life insurance company, offering financial security in uncertain times.

Our purpose is to help our customers thrive by enabling them to achieve their lifetime financial goals, while investing their funds in ways that will create a positive future for them, their families, their communities and broader society. In this way, we significantly contribute to improving the lives of our customers and their communities while ensuring a sustainable future for our business.

We now employ more than 30 000 people and operate in 14 countries across two regions Africa (South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Malawi, Tanzania, Nigeria, Ghana, Uganda, Rwanda, South Sudan and eSwatini) and Asia (China)

What we do

We provide financial solutions to individuals, small and medium-sized businesses, corporates and institutions across several market segments and geographies in South Africa, the Rest of Africa and certain other emerging markets.

Savings and protection: Innovative life assurance-based product solutions, addressing both protection and savings needs, as well as short term insurance solutions through Old Mutual Insure.

Investments: Growing our customers’ savings and wealth, whether through active and direct asset management through the Old Mutual Investment Group or the selection of funds for customers to invest in through multi-managers.

Lending: Old Mutual offers personal loans and debt consolidation loans tailored to the individual needs of our customers. All loan products are provided through Old Mutual Finance, a licensed financial services and registered credit provider.

Banking: The Money Account is both a low-cost transactional account and a one-of-a-kind unit trust savings account. This innovative banking product is offered by Old Mutual Transaction Services (Pty) Ltd in association with Bidvest Bank Ltd and Old Mutual Investment Administrators, a licensed financial services provider.

https://www.oldmutual.com/about

18/3/2025

2024 Annual Results

Cautionary statement

This report may contain forward-looking statements with respect to certain of Old Mutual Limited’s plans and its current goals and expectations relating to its future financial condition, performance and results and, in particular, estimates of future cash flows and costs. By their nature, all forward-looking statements involve risk and uncertainty because they relate to future events and circumstances which are beyond Old Mutual Limited’s control including, among other things, domestic conditions across our operations as well as global economic and business conditions, market-related risks, such as fluctuations in equity market levels, interest rates and exchange rates, the policies and actions of regulatory authorities, the impact of competition, inflation, deflation, the timing and impact of other uncertainties of future acquisitions or combinations within relevant industries, as well as the impact of tax and other legislation and other regulations in the jurisdictions in which Old Mutual Limited and its affiliates operate. As a result, Old Mutual Limited’s actual future financial condition, performance and results may differ materially from the plans, goals and expectations set forth in Old Mutual Limited’s forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements contained in this report are the responsibility of directors and have not been reviewed or reported on by the independent joint auditors. Old Mutual Limited undertakes no obligation to update the forward-looking statements contained in this report or any other forward-looking statements it may make. Nothing in this report shall constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy securities.

Consolidated annual financial statements

Our consolidated annual financial statements are prepared in accordance with IFRS® Accounting Standards as issued by the Accounting Standards Board (IASB). The summarised consolidated financial information for the year ended 31 December 2024 and the notes to the summarised consolidated financial statements, (contained on pages 87 to 141) were extracted from the consolidated annual financial statements which have been audited by the independent joint auditors, Deloitte & Touche and Ernst & Young Inc., who expressed an unmodified opinion thereon.

Non-IFRS financial measures

This report includes non-IFRS financial measures which are not defined by IFRS® Accounting Standards. The non-IFRS financial measures are the responsibility of directors and have not been reported on by the independent joint auditors. The non-IFRS measures are prepared for illustrative purposes only and provide information that is useful to investors and are appropriate to assess the Group’s operational results and financial performance. The non-IFRS measures also enhance the investor’s understanding of the Group’s results by providing greater insight into the financial performance, financial position and cash flows of the Group as well as the way it is managed. These non-IFRS financial measures are not uniformly defined and may not be comparable with similar measures used by other companies. For certain non-IFRS financial measures, there are no directly comparable amounts under IFRS® Accounting Standards. Because of their nature, these non-IFRS financial measures should not be viewed as alternatives to measures of financial position, changes in equity, results of operations and cash flows determined in accordance with IFRS® Accounting Standards.

Constant currency information

The constant currency information included in this report has been presented to illustrate the impact of changes in the South African rand exchange rates and is considered to be pro forma financial information in terms of the JSE Listings Requirements. Pro forma financial information is the responsibility of the directors. It is presented for illustrative purposes only. Given the nature of this information, it may not fairly present the segment’s financial position, changes in equity, result of operations and cash flows. All references to constant currency information are based on the translation of foreign currency results for the year ended 31 December 2024 at the daily average exchange rate for the year ended 31 December 2023 for income statement metrics and the closing exchange rate as at 31 December 2023 was used for the balance sheet metrics. The major currencies contributing to the exchange rate movements are the Nigerian naira, Malawian kwacha, Ghanaian cedi and Kenyan shilling. Refer to table 3.6 in the additional disclosures for the exchange rates and to page 65 to 69 for constant currency disclosures.

Responsible business

Sustainability is integral to our business and our value creation strategy

Responsible investment

R179 bn of AUM invested in the green economy
R38.4 bn invested in renewable energy
717 387 active stewardship and resolutions voted on

Climate action

22% reduction in Group operational carbon emissions footprint
Partnered with Climate & Disaster Resilience Fund to mitigate flood-risks
30% decrease in grid purchased non-renewable direct electricity against 2019 baseline

Financial wellness

15 516 SMMEs reached
Launched new Moneyversity+ digital platform

For full release, see:

https://www.oldmutual.com/v3/assets/bltdd392fd32dda3ce8/blt978245604eb99707/67e4101832992ea680b678ea/2024_Annual_Results_booklet.pdf

PSG GROUP LIMITED (JSE: PSG)

Corporate Information

PSG is an investment holding company consisting of underlying investments that operate across a diverse range of industries including banking, education, financial services and food and related business, as well as early-stage investments in selected growth sectors.

https://psggroup.co.za/

Corporate Social Investment

PSG subscribes to the notion that a great company can never be a burden on society. We contribute to the development and upliftment of South Africans by creating jobs and contributing financially by way of paying our taxes, donations and sponsorships. The group’s contribution to society through the payment of salaries, taxes and dividends amounted to approximately R17bn during the past financial year.

We also embrace the principle that companies should contribute additionally to the success of the country as a whole. The corporate social investment (“CSI”) section of the annual report deals with PSG’s CSI projects. It is by no means a comprehensive list, but illustrates our dedication to making South Africa a better place.

https://psggroup.co.za/corporate-social-investment-2/

28/2/2025

FY2025

Financial results

PSG delivered a 24.7% increase in recurring headline earnings per share and a return on equity of 26.6%.

While operating conditions remained challenging, more favourable equity market conditions impacted positively on the group’s results during the year. Our key financial metrics under these conditions highlight the competitive advantage of our advice-led business model. Total assets under management increased by 15.7% to R470.7 billion, comprising assets managed by PSG Wealth of R410.0 billion (15.5% increase) and PSG Asset Management of R60.7 billion (17.2% increase), while PSG Insure’s gross written premium amounted to R7.6 billion (9.2% increase). Performance fees constituted 3.7% (2024: 2.8%) of headline earnings.

The firm remains confident about its long-term growth prospects, and we therefore continued to invest in both technology and people. Compared to the prior year, our technology and infrastructure spend increased by 18.6% (these costs continue to be fully expensed), while our fixed remuneration cost grew by 6.1%. We are proud of the progress made in growing our own talent, with 150 newly qualified graduates having joined during the financial year.

PSG Wealth

PSG Wealth’s recurring headline earnings increased by 15%

The division continued its solid performance with core income increasing by 14.7% during the current year, consisting of a continued increase in management and other recurring fees, as well as transactional brokerage fees.

Client assets managed by our Wealth advisers increased by 15.5% to R410.0 billion during the current year, which included R20.6 billion of positive net inflows. The division’s formidable financial adviser network consisted of 635 Wealth advisers as at 28 February 2025, a net increase of 27 advisers during the current year.

For the sixth consecutive year, PSG Wealth won the coveted Top Wealth Manager of the Year: Large Institutions award at the Krutham Top Private Banks and Wealth Managers Awards. The division also secured first place in five archetype award categories: Wealthy Executive, Retiree, Young Professional, Successful Entrepreneur, and Lump-Sum Investor.

PSG Wealth was also awarded Top Overall Broker: Large Institutions at the annual Krutham Top Securities Brokers Awards. PSG Wealth continues to advise clients to focus on their long-term goals and to maintain diversified portfolios, especially during challenging times. Our advisers provide clients with expert advice and maintain excellent relationships through integrity, trust and transparency. In addition, our sustained investment in digital capabilities to enhance the client experience enables us to operate seamlessly in a changing environment.

We remain confident about the fundamentals and prospects of this division and believe that our commitment to long-term relationships with clients will continue to differentiate us in the markets in which we compete.

PSG Assets Management

PSG Asset Management achieved recurring headline earnings growth of 37%

The division’s results for the year were impacted by higher performance fees, as well as strong growth in management fees of 16.6%. Asset Management’s results are testimony to the team’s long-term track record of delivering top-quartile risk-adjusted investment returns for clients.

Client assets under management increased by 17.2% to R60.7 billion during the current year, with net client inflows of R4.5 billion. Assets administered by the division increased by 16.1% to R264.3 billion, supported by R13.0 billion of multi-managed net inflows.

PSG Asset Management continuously engages with clients on the merits of its 3M investment philosophy and

the importance of staying in the market throughout the investment cycles.

PSG Insure

PSG Insure’s recurring headline earnings increased by 41%

PSG Insure delivered commendable results during the year against the backdrop of a difficult industry environment. The division achieved gross written premium growth of 9.2% as we continue to focus our efforts on growing our commercial lines’ business, which requires specialist adviser expertise. There were 336 insurance advisers in the group at 28 February 2025, a net decrease of 9 advisers during the year due to the planned consolidation of some of our smaller adviser offices.

The comprehensive reinsurance programme we have in place reduced the adverse impact of catastrophe events during the year, including the Western Cape storms and large fire claims. This, when combined with our quality underwriting practices, allowed us to achieve a net underwriting margin of 12.7%, compared to 9.7% achieved in the prior year.

Our strategy and focus of delivering great service to our customers has been recognised with numerous industry awards. In the past year, PSG Insure was recognised as the 2023 Santam National Broker of the Year for performance excellence in personal lines, Western won the Non-Life Insurer of the Year: Commercial award for the third consecutive year at the 2024 FIA Intermediary Experience Awards, while the PSG Insure platform was awarded the Gold award for the best Outsource business in 2023 by Old Mutual Insure.

Strategy

PSG Wealth’s overall strategy offers an innovative and all-inclusive end-to-end client proposition and includes a complete range of discretionary and non-discretionary investment products with competitive fees. We advocate diversification, and our solutions offer a balance between rand hedge and interest-rate-sensitive investments with a longterm focus. Management is proud of the experience and reputation of the advisers in the business, who play a key role in providing us with client feedback to continually enhance our platform and product capabilities. Engaging with our clients remains central to our philosophy and continues to involve a hybrid of digital and in-person events. Our Wealth business is well placed to meet client investment needs and consistently strives to improve both our adviser and client service offerings.

PSG Asset Management’s strategy consists of investment excellence, operational efficiency, and effective sales and marketing initiatives. Generating the best long-term risk-adjusted returns for investors remains the division’s primary focus. PSG Asset Management’s differentiated investment approach adds diversification to a blended client solution, helping clients to achieve better outcomes over time. We prioritise investment performance while managing operational processes and talent management. Increasing brand awareness, particularly in the retail investor market, and regular client communication through events and publications remain key focus areas for the division.

PSG Insure provides simple and cost-effective nonlife insurance solutions that protect clients and their assets from unforeseen events. Critical expertise across underwriting, administration and adviser teams underpins the focus on providing value-added products that meet and exceed clients’ expectations. The division continues to invest in its claims and administration functions to build scale and unlock operational efficiencies, thereby enabling our highcalibre advisers to focus on client relationships. To maintain and improve our underwriting results at Western, we are continuously building capacity in the underwriting and actuarial functions, as well as completing our investment in geo-coding.

Corporate activity

PSG’s focus remains on organic growth. However, we will consider acquisitions that meet our investment criteria and offer acceptable pricing, a compelling strategic rationale, clearly definable synergies, and ease of integration.

Capital management

PSG’s capital cover ratio remains strong at 257% based on the latest insurance group return (29 February 2024: 286%). This comfortably exceeds the minimum regulatory requirement of 100%.

During August 2024, Global Credit Rating Company affirmed the group’s long-term and short-term credit ratings at A+(ZA) and A1(ZA), respectively, with a Positive Outlook. The group’s capital cover ratio and the credit rating affirmation are testament to the group’s strong financial position and excellent liquidity.

PSG continues to generate strong cash flows, which gives us various options to optimise our capital structure and risk-adjusted returns to the benefit of shareholders:

The group repurchased and cancelled 19.1 million shares at a cost of R330.3 million during the year as part of shareholder capital optimisation.
Our shareholder investable asset’s exposure to equity remains at 9%. We continue to monitor investment markets and will gradually increase our value at risk exposure to align with our long-term target.

For full release, see:

https://download.psg.co.za/files/investor-relations/overview/PSGFY2025.pdf?_gl=1*15wtqh9*_gcl_au*MTcwMTcwNzQwLjE3NDU5MDExMzc.*_ga*OTYxMDczODg4LjE3NDU5MDExMzc.*_ga_TBE24PED5L*MTc0NTkwMTEzNy4xLjEuMTc0NTkwMTE0My4wLjAuMA..

REMGRO LIMITED (JSE: REM)

About Remgro

Originally established in the 1940s by the late Dr Anton Rupert, Remgro’s investment portfolio has evolved substantially and currently includes investee companies across seven platforms. The Company is listed on the Johannesburg Securities Exchange (JSE), operated by the JSE Limited in South Africa under the “Financials – Financial Services – Investment Banking and Brokerage Services – Diversified Financial Services” sector, with the share code “REM”. Our interests consist mainly of investments in the financial services, healthcare, consumer products, industrial, infrastructure and media and sport industries.

https://www.remgro.com/about-remgro/our-business/

25/3/2025

Results Press Release for the six months ended 31 December 2024

REMGRO DELIVERS PLEASING RESULTS ON THE BACK OF IMPROVED OPERATIONAL PERFORMANCES FROM INVESTEE COMPANIES

Interim dividend per share: increased by 20.0% to 96 cents
Intrinsic net asset value per share as at 31 December 2024: R276.89 up by 10.3%
Headline earnings per share: increased by 38.6 % from 485 cents to 672 cents

Overview

The first half of the 2025 financial year saw a positive trend in delivering against Remgro’s stated strategic focus, of disciplined capital allocation and active partnership, to drive performance in its underlying portfolio companies. This is evidenced by the marked improvements in earnings contributions across a number of investments in the portfolio.

While the steadfast focus on unlocking performance within the portfolio continues, together with integration of a series of corporate actions which have previously affected Remgro’s results, the Company is pleased that these concerted efforts have begun to yield improved results.

Commenting on the period under review, Remgro CEO Jannie Durand said: “The recent progress seen in our underlying investee companies is pleasing. However, much work still needs to be done to further unlock and optimise the performance of the portfolio. Remgro remains committed to staying the course on this and in embedding the discipline, processes, and capabilities that will underpin a high-performance culture.”

Looking more broadly, the period under review was still characterised by global macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainty. In contrast, the local operating environment continued to show signs of moderation, fuelled by tentative improvement in investor and consumer confidence, as well as ongoing traction on political reform and a positive trend in key economic indicators. This has and continues to give the Group the impetus to strategically focus on the things within its control, notably disciplined capital allocation and driving sustainable performance in the underlying portfolio companies.

“Remgro also continues to play its part, alongside other stakeholders and partners, in contributing towards re-establishing South Africa as a desirable investment destination. We believe that these efforts which are aimed at improving not only our own portfolio performance, but also the environment that we operate in, provide the building blocks to deliver on our strategic imperative of creating long-term value for our shareholders,” added Durand.

Financial Review

For the period under review, headline earnings increased by 38.7% from the restated R2 687 million to R3 728 million, while headline earnings per share (HEPS) increased by 38.6% from the restated 485 cents to 672 cents.

The increase in headline earnings can be summarised as follows:

Much improved operational performance from the majority of the underlying investee companies, with the most significant being the following:
increased contributions from Rainbow (+R237 million), RCL Foods (+R224 million), OUTsurance Group (+R195 million) and Mediclinic (excluding the Mediclinic acquisition costs) (+R152 million), due to improved operational performances;
Heineken Beverages (excluding the Heineken IFRS 3 impact) returning to profitability, which was driven by volume growth and margin recovery (+R274 million);
partly offset by lower contributions from TotalEnergies (-R331 million), mainly due to higher negative stock revaluations; and CIVH (-R147 million), mainly due to increased borrowing costs as a result of higher average debt balances and a negative fair value adjustment on an interest rate hedge.
Lower finance costs due to the redemption of the preference shares (+R226 million).
The impact of significant corporate actions implemented during the previous financial years decreasing to R77 million (31 December 2023: R343 million).

Detailed commentary on the performance of each of the underlying investee companies’ reporting platforms is set out in the unaudited interim results for the six months ended 31 December 2024 released herewith.

Remgro’s intrinsic net asset value per share increased by 10.3% from R251.01 at 30 June 2024 to R276.89 at 31 December 2024. Remgro also paid a final dividend for the year ended 30 June 2024 of 184 cents per share during November 2024. The closing share price of R155.10 on 31 December 2024 reflected a marginal improvement in market valuation, (30 June 2024: R136.09), representing a discount to the intrinsic net asset value of 44.0% compared to 45.8% at 30 June 2024.

Remgro will pay an interim gross dividend for the six months ended 31 December 2024 of 96 cents per share, up 20.0%.

Continued long-term focus and discipline

In line with Remgro’s vision to create sustainable and long-term stakeholder value, the Company will continue to maintain a long-term investment horizon; as the focus remains on disciplined capital allocation, in addition to actively partnering with management teams to drive sustainable performance at our underlying investee companies. “While our external operating environment may require us to weather short-term volatility, Remgro’s strategic priorities remain unchanged. I remain confident in not only the strength of our brand as an investment partner, but also in the strength of the portfolio. I also believe that our stakeholders will reap the benefits of our unwavering commitment to long-term value creation,” concluded Durand.

For full release, see:

https://www.remgro.com/wp-content/uploads/Remgro_Press_Release_for_the_six_months_ended_31_December_2024.pdf

RMB Holdings Limited (JSE: RMH)

RMB Holdings Limited (RMBH), previously known as Rand Merchant Bank Holdings, is a South African diversified financial service holding company. RMB Holdings is listed on the JSE with its headquarters in Sandton, South Africa.

Corporate structure

RMH’s property investments are housed in a majority-owned subsidiary, RMH Property Holdings Proprietary Limited (RMH Property), managed by a dedicated investment team.

Investment strategy

RMH, through RMH Property, positions itself as an active, long-term, value-adding, stable and aspirational shareholder.

RMH has and will continue to play its role as a supportive, committed and enabling shareholder, through the cycle, to RMH Property and its underlying portfolio companies in their various growth phases. RMH Property acquires significant equity interests in unlisted property development companies, with attractive net asset value growth return profiles. RMH Property’s investment strategy is to partner with leading and best-in-class development partners and enhance the value of its portfolio companies by leveraging its value-add engagement model to monetise these investments over time and create enduring shareholder value.

Dividend policy

Given the structure and stage of development of the RMH Property portfolio companies and its approach to capital management, RMH does not have a fixed ordinary dividend policy.

https://rmh.co.za/about-us/#groupStructure

SANLAM LIMITED (JSE: SLM)

About Us

Sanlam was established as a life insurance company in South Africa but has since transformed into a diversified financial services group operating across Africa, India and selected other emerging and developed markets, with listings on the Johannesburg, A2X and Namibian stock exchanges.

The Group has been operating for more than 100 years, most of which as a mutual insurer. Sanlam demutualized and listed on the Johannesburg and Namibian stock exchanges in 1998.

https://www.sanlam.com/about/Pages/default.aspx

14 November 2024

Sanlam reports robust operational update for the nine-month period ended 30 September 2024

Sanlam today announced its operational update for the nine-month period ending 30 September 2024, maintaining the positive performance seen in the first half of the year, with continued doubledigit growth on most key earnings and new business metrics.

Performance highlights included:

Net result from financial services (NRFFS) growth remained robust with satisfactory performance across all lines of business. NRFFS increased by 15% for the reporting period.
Net operational earnings increased by 17%, benefiting from higher investment returns on the shareholder capital portfolio.
Life insurance new business volumes were 12% higher, with good sales growth recorded in all regions across the group’s portfolio.
Life insurance net value of new business increased by 13%, with the new business margin remaining robust at 2,81%. General insurance new business trends were satisfactory with continued strong growth in Asia and good growth in South Africa.
The group continues to attract significant asset flows, with net client cash inflows more than doubling to R40 billion, improving across all lines of business.
The group remains well capitalised and within its solvency capital ratio target range.
Discretionary capital decreased from R3,8 billion on 30 June 2024 to R841 million on 30 September 2024, due to the R2,6 billion outflow regarding the acquisition of a 25% stake in Africa Rainbow Capital Financial Services Holdings and other minor activity.
In October 2024, the group received inflows to discretionary capital of R2,3 billion from the integration of its Namibia holdings into SanlamAllianz; and in November, R1,4 billion (net of tax) in respect of the Capitec reinsurance recapture fee

The Assupol Holdings Limited (Assupol) acquisition was finalised on 7 October 2024 and Sanlam is focused on integrating Assupol into the group’s operations. The group anticipates significant synergies to arise over time following from this integration.

OUTLOOK

Concluding, Mr Hanratty said: “We are pleased with the excellent performance for the reporting period, which is testimony to the commitment of our people, the diversity of our operations and solid execution of our strategy across the emerging markets we are focused on. Our performance and continued strategic execution in the first nine months of 2024 supports our optimism for the remainder of the year.”

https://www.sanlam.com/pdf/media-releases/2024/nine-month-operational-update-14112024.pdf

SASFIN HOLDINGS LIMITED (JSE: SFN)

About Us

Sasfin came from humble beginnings. But, for over 70 years, we’ve challenged ourselves to create tailor-made products and solutions that not only meet our clients’ needs but go Beyond a bank to offer a wide range of personalized financial services and products.

Sasfin Holdings Limited listed on the JSE in 1987. Sasfin and its subsidiaries, provide a comprehensive range of specialist financial products and services for Business and Wealth clients focusing on the needs of entrepreneurs, corporates, institutions and high-net-worth individuals. Its countrywide footprint and comprehensive range of products and services, form a strong basis for growth in loans and advances to select businesses, and assets under management and advisement for investors, as we assist our growing client base while achieving acceptable returns on investment.

https://www.sasfin.com/about-sasfin/

31/12/2024

Pillar III Risk Management Report

Introduction

The risk and capital management report (Pillar iii disclosure) provides information regarding the activities of Sasfin Holdings Limited (Holdings) and Sasfin Bank Limited (Bank) (“the Group”) in accordance with:

The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision’s (BCBS) revised Pillar iii disclosure requirements (Pillar iii standard), BCBS 309 published in January 2015, and the consolidated and enhanced framework, BCBS 400 published in March 2017; and
Regulation 43 of the Regulations relating to Banks (Regulations), issued in terms of the Banks Act 94 of 1990, Directive D1/2019 on Matters related to the Pillar iii disclosure requirement framework and all other Pillar iii disclosure- related directives issued by the Prudential Authority (PA).

The information in this report applies mainly to banking operations, relates to risks directly impacting capital, liquidity and other regulatory ratios. Disclosures are prepared on a historical basis. Monetary values are expressed in Rand thousands.

For the reporting period 31 December 2024, the Board and senior management are satisfied that Holdings’ and Bank’s risk and capital management processes are operating effectively, that business activities have been managed within the Group’s Enterprise Risk Management Framework (ERMF) and that the Group is adequately capitalised and funded to support the execution of its strategic reset.

This report has been internally verified through the Group’s governance processes, in line with the Group’s Public Disclosure Policy, which describes the responsibilities of senior management and the Board in the preparation and review of the Pillar iii disclosure and aims to ensure that:

Appropriate internal control processes and procedures relating to qualitative and quantitative information are followed;
The changing nature of user needs as well as the regulatory environment in terms of qualitative and quantitative information are monitored and understood;
The relevance, frequency and materiality of public information is constantly assessed; and
Material risks are identified and adequately disclosed.

In this regard the Board and senior management have ensured that the appropriate procedures were followed in the preparation, review and sign-off of all disclosures. The Board is satisfied that the Pillar iii disclosures have been prepared in line with the Public Disclosure Policy, that appropriate internal control processes and review have been applied, and that the Pillar iii disclosure complies with the relevant disclosure requirements.

Risk Management and Risk Weighted Assets (RWA)

The approach to risk management is guided by the Group’s ERM Framework which is effected by the board, management and other personnel. The ERMF is applied in strategy setting and across the Group, is designed to identify potential events that may affect the Group, to manage risks in accordance with the Group’s risk appetite, and to provide reasonable assurance regarding the achievement of the Group’s objectives.

Capital Risk

Governance: The Board is responsible for capital management, and has delegated certain aspects of its role to the Group Risk and Capital Management Committee (GRCMC), including setting of appropriate capital parameters and ensuring adequate capitalisation. The capital management function is governed primarily by the GRCMC that oversees the risks associated with capital management, as well as the Asset and Liability Committee (ALCo) and its subcommittee, the Daily Liquidity Committee.

Management and Measurement: The internal capital management approach is embedded in a formal Internal Capital Adequacy Assessment Process (ICAAP) consisting of the Group’s risk appetite, capital, and risk management framework (including capital planning and stress testing).

The GRCMC and Board review the Group’s risk profile to ensure that the level of available capital:

Exceeds the Group’s minimum regulatory capital requirements by a predetermined margin;
Remains sufficient to support the Group’s risk profile;
Remains consistent with the Group’s strategic goals; and
Is sufficient to absorb potential losses under severe stress scenarios.

Stress tests are performed on the Group’s capital position to determine the impact should a severe economic downturn or other detrimental factor materialise. Stress tests consider changes in the macroeconomic environment, key risks, and vulnerabilities within the Group’s business model.

Capital management also includes strategic allocation of capital and capital optimisation.

The capital adequacy ratios remain above the minimum regulatory requirements and within the Board approved limits.

Total RWA decreased from R8.437 billion (Sep-24) to R7 629 billion (Dec-24) attributable to the sale of the CEF portfolio to African Bank Limited, offset by additional investment into money market funds.

The liquidity coverage ratio remains above the regulatory requirements and within the Board risk appetite. The quarteron-quarter (Q-o-Q) increase is mainly due to an increase in high-quality liquid assets (excess cash) arising from the sale of the CEF portfolio to African Bank Limited, offset by decrease in outflows (deposits).

The net stable funding ratio remains above the regulatory minimum requirement of 100%. The Q-o-Q increase is attributable to a decrease in required stable funding because of sale of the CEF portfolio to African Bank Limited.

For the full relese, see:

https://www.sasfin.com/media/14tlrini/sasfin-holdings-ltd-pillar-iii-risk-management-report-december-2024.pdf

STANDARD BANK GROUP LIMITED (JSE: SBK)

The Group at a glance

Standard Bank Group is a financial institution that offers banking and financial services to individuals, businesses, institutions and corporations in Africa and abroad.

OUR STRATEGY

Technology has changed the way we live and work, and financial services are no different. The expectations our stakeholders have of us are changing radically and quickly, and our strategy needs to respond to these expectations. We are strengthening our digital capabilities and integrating our business to transform client experiences and to drive operational efficiency for a radically different world.

We have updated our strategic priorities to align to the operating environment and our strategic positioning to clarify what we need to do to deliver our purpose.

These strategic priorities are:

Transform client experience
Execute with excellence
Drive sustainable growth and value

In transforming the group, we will become:

Truly human – Providing services, solutions and opportunities that our clients and employees need to achieve growth, prosperity and fulfilment.
Truly digital – Serving clients predominantly online, processing in the cloud, embracing open innovation underpinned by data and insights.

https://www.standardbank.com/sbg/standard-bank-group/who-we-are/our-group-at-a-glance

31/1/2025

Annual Results

In 2024, Standard Bank Group delivered R45 billion of headline earnings and a return on equity of 18.5%. The franchise recorded strong underlying organic growth across the banking, insurance and asset management businesses. The group remains on track to deliver on its 2025 strategy and targets.

Overview of financial results

Group results

In the twelve months ended 31 December 2024 (FY24), Standard Bank Group (the group or Standard Bank) recorded headline earnings of R45 billion and delivered a return on equity (ROE) of 18.5%. This performance is underpinned by continued balance sheet growth, lower credit impairment charges and flat costs in the banking franchise and a robust performance in Insurance & Asset Management.

In 2024, the group’s client franchise health showed improvements across several metrics. Active clients grew by 4% to 20 million clients, driven largely by growth in South Africa. Digitally active retail clients in South Africa grew by 6% as more clients transitioned to our convenient digital channels.

Our South African franchise delivered double-digit earnings growth supported by increased client activity and improving credit trends. Our Africa Regions’ franchise delivered another exceptional performance, growing earnings by 22% in local currency. After taking the currency headwinds into account, most notably in the West Region, the Africa Regions’ portfolio delivered earnings of R18.0 billion, marginally down on the prior period, and a ROE of over 28%. In FY24, Africa Regions contributed 41% to group headline earnings. Key contributors to Africa Regions’ headline earnings were Angola, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius, Mozambique, Nigeria, Uganda and Zambia.

Active capital and liquidity management across our portfolio remains key to driving attractive ROEs and funding dividend payments to shareholders. The group ended the year with a strong common equity tier 1 ratio of 13.5%. The group board approved a final dividend of 763 cents per share which equates to a final dividend payout ratio of 56%. When combined with the interim dividend, the dividend declared for the year was 1 507 cents per share, up 6% year on year.

We are pleased to report that we are well on our way to meet our target of more than R250 billion of sustainable finance mobilisation by the end of 2026. Since we began recording this data in 2022, Standard Bank has cumulatively mobilised over R177 billion in sustainable finance, R74 billion of which was added in 2024 alone.

Operating environment

In 2024, global inflation moderated, interest rates declined, and real gross domestic product (GDP) remained relatively strong year on year (2024: 3.2%). Across the group’s portfolio of countries in sub-Saharan Africa (outside of South Africa), while inflation also trended lower, it was still relatively high at 13.5% on average (2023: 14.4%). Accordingly, interest rates were higher on a weighted average basis (2024: 14.3%). In West Africa, high inflation, elevated interest rates, and weakening local currencies persisted, particularly in Angola and Nigeria. In East Africa, despite fiscal pressures and local protests, macroeconomic tailwinds from lower inflation and strong foreign exchange inflows positively impacted the region. Currencies strengthened and real GDP growth remained robust. In the South and Central region, shifts in commodity prices and climate-induced energy crises, particularly in Malawi and Zambia, negatively impacted the region. Foreign exchange shortages and post-election protests impacted Mozambique. Despite the headwinds, the South & Central Region performed well.

Following general elections in South Africa and the formation of the Government of National Unity, consumer and business confidence strengthened and investor sentiment improved. Electricity supply stabilised and progress to reduce logistical constraints was viewed positively. Average consumer inflation moderated to 4.4% (2023: 5.9%), supporting interest rate cuts of 50 basis points to 7.75% by the South African Reserve Bank in the last quarter of 2024. Following an unexpected decline in the third quarter of the year, South Africa’s real GDP growth was 0.6% for the year.

Banking

Banking headline earnings grew by 3% year on year in the South African Rand (ZAR) and a robust 14% in constant currency. Organic growth was strong, supported by revenue growth of 12% measured in constant currency, off a high base in FY23. Unless indicated otherwise, the commentary below is based on trends in reported currency in ZAR.

Loans and advances

Growth in loans and advances was muted at 2% year on year (constant currency: 4%) due to lower consumer affordability levels and lower demand for credit as interest rates remained high on average in 2024. Corporate lending grew by 5% (constant currency: 7%) driven by higher investment in energy and infrastructure. In South Africa, gross loans and advances to customers grew by 4% to R1.3 trillion. Africa Regions’ loans and advances to customers grew by 9% in constant currency but remained flat in ZAR.

Total provisions for credit impairments increased by 2% year on year to R65 billion (constant currency: 3%) as the decrease in Stage 1 and 2 provisions was more than offset by an increase in Stage 3 provisions.

Stage 3 loans as a percentage of the total book increased marginally from 5.8% at 31 December 2023 to 5.9% at 31 December 2024. The group increased coverage on Stage 3 mortgages and vehicle and asset finance loans in response to continued client strain as well as the impact of delays in the courts. Importantly, the group continues to proactively engage clients who are showing signs of distress and remains committed to keeping clients in their homes where possible. Stage 3 coverage on the card and personal unsecured portfolios declined due to specific actions linked to collections and restructurings, as well as late-stage portfolio sales. Corporate Stage 3 coverage is client specific, and the change is linked to a change in mix year on year. Total coverage remained flat at 3.8% and Stage 3 coverage remained robust at 48% (FY23: 47%).

Deposits and funding Total deposits increased by 6% year on year to R2.2 trillion (constant currency: 8%). Growth in deposits from customers was largely driven by a combination of high growth in current and savings account balances and call and term deposits. This growth was partially offset by a decline in foreign currency deposits due to a reclassification of certain balances to current accounts. In Africa Regions, deposits from customers increased by 16% in constant currency, driven by particularly strong growth in the West Africa Region.

Revenue

Net interest income grew by 3% (constant currency: 14%) driven by average balance sheet growth and the inclusion of income on liquid assets recorded at amortised cost offset by a small reduction in margin. The impact of higher cash reserving requirements in Angola, Ghana, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, and Zambia was largely offset by a decrease in Botswana and adjustments in Nigeria.

Net interest margin declined by 4 basis points year on year to 490 basis points. Positive endowment in a higher average interest rate environment was offset by competitive pricing pressure and an unfavourable mix impact as the Africa Regions portfolio grew slower than South Africa in ZAR. Positive endowment contributed the equivalent of R1.9 billion uplift in net interest income in FY24 compared to FY23. The group continues to implement its endowment hedge programme in South Africa. The ZAR sensitivity to a 100 basis point interest rate cut has declined to R0.9 billion (31 December 2023: R1.4 billion).

Net fee and commission revenue increased by 4% (constant currency: 11%) to R32 billion supported by growth in the client base, higher transactional volumes and annual price increases. The South African retail business recorded noteworthy growth of 12% in fee and commission revenue year on year, as client retention and entrenchment strategies continued to bear fruit. Major contributors to the growth in group fees included increases in card-based commissions, account transactional fees, electronic banking, and arrangement, guarantee and other committed fees. In South Africa, 64% of retail transactional clients and 84% of business and commercial clients are digitally active.

Trading revenue increased year on year by 3% to R21 billion against a high base in FY23 (constant currency: 19%). This is better than expected and was supported by a strong finish to the year, particularly in Africa Regions. The impact of reduced demand for commodity hedging and lower equity trading volumes was more than offset by strong growth in fixed income and currency trading.

Bancassurance revenue increased by 7%, driven by growth in the funeral policy base and from the partnership between the Banking and Insurance and Asset Management businesses yielding good results.

Other gains and losses on financial instruments reduced to R1.0 billion (FY23: R2.7 billion) primarily due to the reinvestment of matured held at fair value liquid assets into an amortised cost liquid asset portfolio at the beginning of FY24, which then generated net interest income during the year. Excluding the impact of this change, net interest income growth of 3% would have reduced to 2% and non-interest revenue would have increased by 2% year on year.

For full release, see:

https://www.standardbank.com/static_file/Investor%20Relations/Documents/Financial-results/Annual-Results/SBG_2024_Annual-Results-Booklet_(singles).pdf

TYMEBANK

TymeBank is an exclusively digital retail bank based in South Africa. Headquartered in Rosebank, Johannesburg, TymeBank does not have any physical bank branches and relies on an Android banking App, an Internet Banking site and a partnership with two retail chains, Pick n Pay and Boxer, to host a national network of self-service kiosks that facilitate the account opening process.

The Prudential Authority of the South African Reserve Bank (SARB), granted permission for TymeBank to operate exclusively online on 28 September 2017.

Our purpose

To empower mang ka mang mo Mzansi to take back control of their money.

Our mission

To help you understand how money really works by giving you a clear picture of every Rand and cent you have. This helps you make decisions about your money today that has the power to grow into a secure financial future.

TymeBank is all about 3 key things

1. Simplicity

Our products, services and tools are designed to be easy to use and easy to find.

Because there is a TymeBank kiosk in most Pick n Pay and Boxer stores and you can deposit and withdraw money at every Pick n Pay and Boxer till point, you can bank where you shop.

Our banking app and online banking is ready for you neng kapa neng and our services like SendMoney for example, lets you send money to someone else, kae kapa kae mo Mzansi, even if that person doesn’t have a bank account.

2. Transparency

Banking doesn’t have to be complicated. There’s no need for larney words or hidden costs.

We make sure that you know exactly what is free, what banking you pay for (and how much) and we keep our fees and charges super-simple.

3. Affordability

Abomalume, soccer moms, truck drivers, managers, Mzansi-preneurs and umpakathi as a whole, have the right to accessible and affordable banking.

Because we are a digital bank, the money we save by not having branches – coupled with our partnership with Pick n Pay and Boxer retail stores, means that we can offer you a lot more at a lot less cost to you.

https://www.tymebank.co.za/about/

UBANK LIMITED

About Us

Ubank has a long and rich history of providing basic financial services to mineworkers and their families for more than 40 years. In 1975, when other financial institutions largely ignored this sector of the market, Teba Cash Financial Services was formed to provide mineworkers with basic financial services. These included facilitating the remittance of funds to families and dependents in the rural and labour sending areas using a linked account facility. In the early 1990s, as South Africa was undergoing fundamental political change as a country, the Godsell Motlatsi Commission was formed. This led to the transition from a savings fund into a commercial bank. In June 2000, Ubank (then Teba Bank) was granted a banking license, although its ownership remained in a trust managed by trustees elected by the National Union of Mineworkers and the South African Chamber of Mines. The beneficiaries of the trust are the bank’s customers. In 2007, Ubank welcomed a new vision, mission, set of values, and strategy. Essentially, this saw Ubank set itself up to become the Worker’s Bank of Choice.

In October 2010, the name of the bank was changed to Ubank and launched to the public. Since the birth of the new brand and strategy, various initiatives to improve and expand the business have been undertaken.

https://www.ubank.co.za/about/who-we-are/

ACQ_REF: IS/49227/20250429/ZAF/62/3

ACQ_AUTHOR: Associate/Josienity Millen

Word count: 25160

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SOUTH AFRICA BANKING 29 APR 25_EN

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