Cape Town - Capitec expects its headline earnings per share (HEPS) and earnings per share (EPS) to be between 16% and 19% higher for the financial year ended February 28 2018.
It said in a note to shareholders on Monday it expects with a reasonable degree of certainty that its HEPS will be between R38.06 and R39.04/share, compared to R32.81/share reported in the prior year.
The company also expects its EPS to be between R38.02 and R39.01/share, compared to R32.78/share reported in the prior year.
Capitec pointed out that the financial information on which its voluntary trading statement is based has not been reviewed and reported on by its auditors.
The financial results for the year ended February 28 2018 are expected to be published on or about March 27 2018.
By early afternoon, the Capitec share price was up 3.30% at R867.99
Capitec CEO Gerrie Fourie told Bloomberg recently that business is "back to normal" after the bank was targeted by Viceroy Research, the short seller which raised concerns about Steinhoff International Holdings.
Fourie said Capitec, which makes unsecured loans mainly to low- and middle-income households, was signing 6 000 to 8 000 customers a day in February and expects to have about 9.8 million customers by the end of its financial year at the end of February - up from 8.6 million a year earlier.
The bank’s shares did initially show losses when a report by Viceroy released in January accused it of concealing loan losses and underestimating bad debts. The bank has since released detailed information on why it does not agree with the Viceroy claims.
Fourie said Capitec has been one of the best-performing emerging market bank stocks since its initial public offering in 2002.
Viceroy is still dismissing Capitec’s rebuttals, accusing the bank of "grossly irresponsible” practices.
The Financial Services Board plans to investigate Viceroy for potential market abuse.
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