Capitec has reported another year of strong financial performance, underpinned by continued client growth and expansion across its lending and insurance operations, even as credit risk trends edged higher.
The bank’s active client base reached 26 million for the financial year to February 2026, reinforcing its position as South Africa’s largest retail bank by customer numbers. Earnings growth remained robust, with profit rising 22% to R16.84 billion, supported by gains in both interest and non-interest income.
Net interest income increased 14% to R24.08 billion, while non-interest income, which includes fees and value-added services, rose 19% to R28.34 billion. This reflects Capitec’s continued diversification beyond traditional lending, particularly through its digital services and insurance offerings.
However, the results also point to mounting pressure in credit quality. Credit impairments rose 21% to R9.98 billion, pushing the annualised credit loss ratio to 8.1%. The increase was driven largely by higher losses in business banking, where the ratio rose to 2.4%, while personal banking remained broadly stable at just over 8%. Despite this, net interest income after impairments still increased 18%, indicating that revenue growth continues to outpace rising credit costs.
Lending activity remained a key driver of performance.
In personal banking, loans advanced rose 27% to R68.73 billion, taking total gross loans and advances to R131.77 billion. Business banking expanded at a faster pace, with advances up 48% to R16.9 billion and gross loans reaching R98.01 billion, reflecting growing demand from small and medium-sized enterprises.
Capitec’s international fintech arm, Avafin, recorded the fastest growth, with loans advanced rising 62%. This expansion came with higher risk exposure, as credit impairments increased sharply and the net impairment charge nearly doubled. The figures highlight the trade-off between rapid growth in emerging markets and the associated credit volatility.
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Non-lending segments also contributed meaningfully. The insurance business reported a 38% increase in net income to R5.2 billion, supported by the consolidation of products under the Capitec Life licence. Value-added services, including Capitec Connect, delivered similar growth, with non-interest income rising to R6.1 billion, underscoring the bank’s strategy to deepen customer engagement through a broader ecosystem of services.
At a group level, return on equity improved to 31%, reflecting strong capital efficiency. The bank declared a dividend of 7,890 cents per share, up 23%, signalling confidence in its earnings trajectory despite a more challenging credit environment.
The results highlight Capitec’s ability to scale across multiple revenue streams while maintaining profitability, although the upward trend in impairments suggests a more complex operating environment as lending volumes expand.