They say money makes the world go round, and banks are the ultimate practitioners of this philosophy. This fortnight’s market moves show some of our top bankers putting their money where their mouths are, while others are cashing out.
At Capitec, marketing and communications executive Francois Viviers executed an on-market purchase of 487 shares — a seemingly small parcel that amounted to more than R2.1m, thanks to the bank’s high premium of R4,351 a piece. Capitec’s value continues to soar, and investors are surely curious to see where it goes.
Within a 48-hour window, Nedbank’s personal and private banking boss, Ciko Thomas, parted with 10,000 shares for a tidy sum of R2.56m. Not far behind, Standard Bank’s head of personal and private banking, Funeka Montjane, liquidated a R1m position. Standard Bank has taken over the crown as Africa’s most valuable bank in terms of market cap, surpassing both Capitec and FirstRand.
Newly appointed CEO Johann le Roux accumulated R2m worth of KAL Group shares via Bakenskraal Investments. His purchases follow the agricultural and retail group’s exceptionally strong set of interim results, with the company delivering solid earnings growth and hiking its interim dividend by 25%.
In the property sector, Dipula CEO Izak Petersen purchased 30,000 ordinary shares worth R213,000, after which the Public Investment Corporation (PIC) ramped up its beneficial interest to 15.7%. The real estate investment trust recently delivered a stellar set of results for the six months ended February 28, reporting a 20% year-on-year surge in distributable earnings to R310m.
The PIC appears to be aggressively anchoring itself within South Africa’s value-driven industrial bedrock
With little time to digest these transactions, Dipula dropped a cautionary announcement, advising shareholders that it is actively considering potential corporate actions that could materially impact its share price. This could mean a number of variables and potentially points to an impending structural shakeup, a major acquisition or an asset-unlocking exercise.
At Weaver Fintech (formerly HomeChoice International), director Chris de Wit took advantage of market liquidity to progressively offload R2.24m worth of shares in major subsidiary HomeChoice South Africa. While the group aggressively pivots towards the mass-market digital fintech space, his series of sales over the past month appears to be a standard exercise in taking some personal chips off the table rather than a vote of no confidence in the broader digital transition.
The PIC was equally active across the board, lifting its stake in Spear Reit to over 10.1% just as the company dangled a juicy gross final dividend with a reinvestment option, while simultaneously paring back its exposure in Octodec Investments to 4.2%. Beyond brick-and-mortar counters, the PIC asserted its dominance in the resources and logistics sectors, accumulating a formidable 15.3% stake in Thungela Resources, pushing past a quarter of total ownership in Super Group (25.18%) and scaling its presence in Omnia Holdings to 20.52%.
The PIC appears to be aggressively anchoring itself within South Africa’s value-driven industrial bedrock, vacuuming up cash-generative equities that the broader retail market may be underappreciating.
Other asset managers were similarly active in reshaping their terrain. Coronation increased its stake in Pepkor Holdings to just over 10%, while joining forces with Ninety One to accumulate matching 5% stakes in Naspers.
Finally, corporate restructuring took centre stage at Spar Group, which disclosed the strategic disposal of its underperforming UK business assets to AF Blakemore & Son for roughly £13m. This exit, encompassing over 130 stores, seemingly marks the end of a bruising offshore chapter, allowing management to refocus capital closer to home.
