Capitec profit growth revised 12% downward

CAPE TOWN – The country’s fastest-growing banking group, Capitec, yesterday revised its profit growth downwards by more than 10 percent, warning that Covid-19 had impacted its operations worse than its initial projections.

The group slashed its profit forecast a further 12 percent, from the 70 percent it said it was likely to incur six weeks ago as a result of the pandemic.

Capitec said it now expected its profits to fall 82 percent on credit impairments and the decline in transactional activity during the six months to the end of August.

In July, the group flagged a 70 percent decline in its earnings.

“The board now wishes to advise that a reasonable degree of certainty exists that for the half-year to end-August headline earnings per share (Heps) will be between 458.10 cents a share and 559.90c, representing a decrease of between 78 and 82 percent, compared to the 2 545c reported last year,” the group said.