Property Reporter
CAPITEC Bank, which specialises in microfinance and mass-market banking, said yesterday that the unbundling of the PSG Group's 55% stake in the bank had significantly improved liquidity, making it more attractive to investors. Since the unbundling of PSG's stake, the bank's liquidity had improved more than threefold on a daily trading basis, said CEO Michiel le Roux. The share price had also jumped 50% since the unbundling. Le Roux said that at the time of the announcement the share price sat at R3,70, but was now trading at R5,90. Another boost for the bank, which is small with a market capitalisation of R400m, was that all of PSG's major shareholders, including institutional investors Old Mutual, Sanlam and Rand Merchant Bank, held on to their Capitec shares following the unbundling, which involved about 38-million shares. In total the three institutions hold 20% of the Capitec's shares. Le Roux said that following the unbundling, Capitec staff, management and directors now held a 35% stake in the bank, the largest shareholding. This was likely to continue rising modestly under a new staff share scheme. Le Roux said that the scheme was introduced in December and Capitec staff were assisted in purchasing shares. Capitec's Share Trust contributed 10% of the cost of any shares purchased by staff, who were able to participate with investments of R20 a month. "We hope to illustrate our confidence in our bank by keeping a lot of our investments in the shares of the company," Le Roux said. The bank listed in February 2002 and started out as a microlender. Le Roux said that since the listing the company had converted 150 of its branches to banking branches. The Stellenbosch-based bank has branches all over the country
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