DURBAN – Listed investment holding company PSG Group said on Tuesday that it benefited from its investments in Capitec Bank and private education group Curro.
Chief executive Piet Mouton said Capitec, its biggest investment thus far, delivered a 20 percent hike in headline earnings per share for the group.
“Capitec has been exceptional and it continues to grow its client base, attracting about 200 000 new clients a month. Credit must go into its management team for its great leadership,” Mouton said.
Last month Capitec reported a 20 percent increase in headline earnings to R2.94 billion for the six months to August. PSG said Capitec also lifted its recurring earnings per share by 16 percent to R5.84 in the same period.
PSG has a portfolio of underlying investments that operate across a diverse range of industries, including banking, financial services, education, food and related business as well as early-stage investments in select growth sectors. Its major investments include shareholdings in Stadio, CA Sales, Evergreen and Energy Partners.
The group reported a 17 percent increase in profit before finance costs and taxation to R2.49bn, while attributable earnings per share increased by 24 percent to R6.39 a share.
The group declared a dividend of 100.64c a share from last year’s 100.52c.
Mouton said the performance of the core investee companies was commendable. He said this was, however, offset by weak performance from Zeder, which reported a 63 percent decline in recurring headline earnings per share.
“The results are pleasing, considering that the group is operating in an economy showing virtually no growth,” Mouton said. “When an upswing can be expected, is still not clear. There are also global factors outside our control pressuring sentiment.”
Mouton said that despite the challenges, PSG Group remained cautiously optimistic about South Africa and the opportunities it presented.
Other investee companies like Curro reported a 7 percent increase in recurring headline earnings per share for the six months to June while PSG Konsult, a JSE-listed financial services company focused on providing wealth management, asset management and insurance solutions to clients, reported an 8 percent hike in recurring headline earnings per share.
PSG Alpha reported an 88 percent uptick in recurring earnings per share, with most of its investments performing to expectation.
PSG rose 1.08 percent on the JSE on Tuesday to close at R230.36.