Capitec Bank tops Sunday Times Top 100 Companies Survey

"We would like to congratulate Capitec Bank and its CEO Riaan Stassen, who is determinedly and fearlessly leading a young company in the financial services sector that is taking on the big guys," says Marcia Klein, editor of Sunday Times Business Times.

A R10 000 investment in the fast-growing company was worth R79 090 at the end of September, making it the best investment on the JSE over the past five years. Growth in share price and earnings is a reflection of Capitec's phenomenal success - it signs up about 70 000 new clients each month, and reached 2.5 million by September. The bank that's client base has grown 42% in 12 months was honoured at a gala awards ceremony held on Tuesday, 2 November, at the Johannesburg City Hall.

The business leaders honoured

"Business Leader of the Year is a prestigious award as it is one of very few decided by the winner's peers - the CEOs of the Top 100 companies. This year's winner is Discovery CEO Adrian Gore, who follows Phuthuma Nhleko, Johann Rupert, Brian Joffe, Graham Mackay, Maria Ramos, Jacko Maree, Sean Summers and Patrice Motsepe," points out Klein.

"This year, Business Times awarded the Lifetime Achievement award to Allan Gray, the founder of what is arguably the best fund manager in the country, the company that bears his name."

The decision was made in consultation with a panel that included Thina Siwendu, director of law firm Siwendu & Partners, and a corporate governance specialist; Reg Rumney, director at the Centre for Economics Journalism in Africa at Rhodes University; Futhi Mtoba, the president of Business Unity SA and chairman of Deloitte and Sasfin's David Shapiro.

Capitec, this year's overall Top 100 Companies winner, listed at the height of the crisis in the small banking sector in 2002 - a week after the collapse of Saambou. However, unlike many of the banks who failed or took serious pain then, Capitec has gone from strength to strength and has since emerged from another financial crisis unscathed. In the six months to August, profit grew 59% to R283-million. Headline earnings grew by 58% to 340c a share.

Solid foundation for future growth

CEO Riaan Stassen says: "Even though we are continuing to operate in challenging economic conditions, Capitec Bank has a solid base from which to grow. Our simplified solution to money management continued to find great appeal with the cost-conscious consumer looking for value, accessibility and easy-to-use banking products."

Stassen was formerly the operations director of Distillers Corporation, and his knowledge of client service comes from the liquor industry, where one has to work extra hard to get brands and products noticed.

"We are pretty customer focused. Everything we do revolves around what will be better for the customer and how can we engineer it in such way that we can make money," explains Stassen.

So... how do they do it?

So how do they get it right, especially in the current economic climate? The group has a single solution to the market, which it believes is relevant to essential banking and development - a model whose costs are significantly lower than the competition. In doing so, the group can pass this on to its customer. Capitec has already established a cost-effective infrastructure to leverage off. Since its 2002 listing, Capitec's headline earnings have increased by more than 35% a year.

The bank is the only South African brand to be named one of the Great Brands of Tomorrow in an international report by financial services group Credit Suisse. It has increased its staff head count by 900 in the past year. In the six months to August it added 21 new branches around the country, taking the total to 422 - and it plans to open 55 more by the end of the year.

The Business Times Top 100 Companies Survey will be published in the Sunday Times on Sunday, 7 November.