Sector: Financials
The company is available at Interactive Brokers
FirstRand Limited (JSE:FSR), through its portfolio of integrated financial services businesses, operates in South Africa, certain markets in sub-Saharan Africa, the UK, and India.
The group’s track record of delivering superior returns to shareholders has been achieved through a combination of organic growth, acquisitions, innovation and the creation of completely new businesses.
Listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) and the Namibian Stock Exchange (NSX), FirstRand Limited is the largest financial institution by market capitalisation in Africa.
FirstRand can provide its customers with differentiated and competitive value propositions due to its unique and highly flexible model of leveraging the most appropriate brand, distribution channel, licence and operating platform available within the portfolio. This approach, which is underpinned by the disciplined allocation of financial resources and enabled by disruptive digital and data platforms, allows the group to fully optimise the franchise value of its portfolio. This has resulted in a long track record of consistent growth in high quality earnings, and superior and sustainable returns for shareholders.
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Interminable power cuts have driven a record seed funding round for South African start-up Hohm Energy.
2024-02-23 07:17 +02:00
FirstRand has announced big management changes, including a new CEO to replace Jacques Celliers at FNB.
2023-10-04 15:22 +02:00
FirstRand Group’s Christoph Nieuwoudt is a leading expert on AI. He joins Duncan McLeod on TCS+.
2023-06-26 15:35 +02:00
President Cyril Ramaphosa met with business leaders as concern over South Africa’s multiple crises grows.
2023-06-07 07:41 +02:00
The rand is paying the price for South Africa’s woes, with the R20/$ level now firmly in sight.
2023-05-27 09:00 +02:00
FNB’s head of IT data and analytics admires disruptive technologies that challenge the status quo.
2023-05-26 11:34 +02:00
Big changes are coming to the payments industry in South Africa early next year. BankservAfrica CEO unpacks all the details in this episode of TC|Daily.
2022-09-19 11:19 +02:00JSE:FSR JSE:SBK JSE:ABG JSE:NED JSE:BVT JSE:INP JSE:INL JSE:MPT JSE:SFN JSE:HUG JSE:ISA
The South African Reserve Bank has taken a step closer to creating a national digital currency. This is after it took the wraps last week off the second phase of Project Khokha.
2022-04-11 15:17 +02:00
More engagement with the fintech industry is needed before distributed ledger technology can be incorporated into South Africa’s financial markets, according to a new report.
2022-04-06 14:01 +02:00
Big changes are coming to South Africa’s payments industry that will shake up the financial services sector, according to BankservAfrica CEO Jan Pilbauer.
2022-02-18 15:29 +02:00JSE:FSR JSE:MTN JSE:SBK JSE:ABG JSE:NED JSE:BVT JSE:INP JSE:INL JSE:AVI JSE:SFN JSE:ISA
South Africa’s upstart lenders are leveraging their low-cost advantage to challenge the dominance of bigger and more established rivals, according to a report.
2022-01-23 13:51 +02:00
FirstRand will end funding for new coal-fired power stations and coal mines and has lowered the cap on its coal exposure as part of moves to reach net-zero emissions by 2050, it said on Wednesday.
2021-09-15 11:33 +02:00
Cell C’s largest shareholder, Blue Label Telecoms, disclosed on Thursday that a term sheet to recapitalise the mobile operator has finally been signed after protracted negotiations.
2021-08-26 14:45 +02:00
Standard Bank will within years transform into a marketplace where clients can also access rivals’ products and a variety of services beyond just banking, it said on Friday.
2021-08-20 14:45 +02:00
Some of South Africa’s largest companies were forced to halt operations as violence erupted in parts of the country, with rioters torching trucks and looting stores.
2021-07-12 14:24 +02:00JSE:FSR JSE:MTN JSE:SBK JSE:VOD JSE:DCP JSE:JSE JSE:MSM JSE:MPT
Less than a year after joining Telkom’s board, former Openserve CEO Alphonzo Samuels has resigned as a non-executive director. The company has also appointed two new directors.
2021-07-02 12:22 +02:00JSE:FSR JSE:OMU JSE:TCP JSE:TBS JSE:BAW JSE:TKG JSE:MSM JSE:DTC JSE:SBP JSE:ISA
One of just two local manufacturers of electrical transformers says it faces liquidation after a procurement team at Eskom handed two contracts worth R341-million to the more expensive bidder.
2021-05-27 07:09 +02:00
As major financial hubs like Singapore redraw legislation to lure crypto firms, South Africa’s burgeoning exchanges say they are having to move headquarters abroad due to uncertainty over potential government regulation.
2021-03-09 10:58 +02:00
Barry Hore, the technologist who has led Discovery Bank since its inception, is stepping down. Long-serving Discovery executive Hylton Kallner will replace him on 1 January.
2020-12-10 07:48 +02:00
South African business confidence has jumped to the highest level in more than two years as further easing of lockdown restrictions spurred a resurgence in activity.
2020-11-25 05:35 +02:00
South African businesses have had to respond to the coronavirus and lockdown restrictions since March. At the same time, the country’s economy is in crisis. Here’s how companies are coping.
2020-09-18 07:20 +02:00JSE:AGL JSE:AMS JSE:FSR JSE:MTN JSE:SBK JSE:VOD JSE:IMP JSE:SSW JSE:ABG JSE:SHP JSE:NED JSE:PPH JSE:AVI JSE:SPG JSE:MSM JSE:SUI
South African banks face the steepest earnings slump in half a century – with some posting losses – as measures to curb the coronavirus drag the economy deeper into recession.
2020-06-08 08:47 +02:00
The rand hasn’t hit rock bottom yet. Even after falling to its weakest level on record against the dollar this week, South Africa’s currency has a better chance of extending the decline in coming months.
2020-04-04 09:20 +02:00
JPMorgan has declined to comment on suggestions that it pressured First National Bank, through parent FirstRand, to shut the bank accounts of South African cryptocurrency exchanges.
2019-11-25 10:54 +02:00
JPMorgan pressured First National Bank to close the accounts of cryptocurrency exchanges in South Africa, according to two separate sources. FNB has strongly denied that external pressure forced its hand.
2019-11-22 14:37 +02:00
Bond investors aren’t showing much faith in Eskom’s new boss, with yields on the company’s 2021 dollar bonds jumping the most in more than three months after the appointment of André de Ruyter.
2019-11-19 08:41 +02:00
First National Bank’s new First Business Zero Account, with no monthly fees, has made competitors sit up and take notice.
2019-11-11 06:13 +02:00
Eskom’s 96-year history is replete with former CEOs who rose from within the debt-laden state utility to run the company. There are few obvious choices for the next CEO to come from those same ranks.
2019-05-28 12:59 +02:00South Africa`s Standard Bank Group funded renewable energy projects worth 55 billion rand ($2.79 billion) in 2022, exceeding its green financing target and putting it ahead of the world`s top lenders, it said on Tuesday.
2023-05-30South African lender FirstRand aims to double its home loans linked to clean energy to 2 billion rand ($109.27 million) by next year, it said on Monday, as it seeks to tap a rising demand for solar power from households amid daily power cuts.
2023-03-27
South African fashion and homeware retailer TFG is open to buying retail companies coming up for sale in Britain, its chief executive said on Wednesday, at a time when clothing retailer Joules Group has gone into administration.
2022-11-30South African banks say they have to keep funding at least some coal projects for now because an immediate halt would put huge political and economic strains on a nation that relies on the most polluting of fossil fuels.
2021-10-15South Africa`s Mediclinic has refinanced 8.45 billion rand ($575.26 million) in loans through Rand Merchant Bank, the hospital operator said on Tuesday, in what the bank described as Africa`s first sustainability-linked banking facility.
2021-09-21A consortium led by South African investment company Brait Plc has revived plans to exit glass bottle maker Consol Glass, two sources said, possibly via an initial public offering (IPO) three years after a previous failed attempt.
2021-09-17JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) -South Africa`s FirstRand will end funding for new coal-fired power stations and coal mines and has lowered the cap on its coal exposure as part of moves to reach net-zero emissions by 2050, it said on Wednesday.
2021-09-15FirstRand has found offering banking to cash-only businesses in South African townships trickier than expected, but the firms involved are also far bigger than it realised.
2021-06-18
South Africa`s Nedbank on Wednesday refrained from paying a dividend as its annual profit plunged 56.8%, after the COVID-19 crisis drove up credit impairments and lower interest rates hit revenue.
2021-03-17At least two of South Africa`s major banks are likely to declare dividends after the central bank last week eased guidance on payouts, analysts and investors said.
2021-02-23JSE:FSR JSE:SBK JSE:ABG JSE:NED JSE:INP JSE:INL JSE:AVI JSE:ARH
South Africa`s biggest health insurer Discovery said on Thursday Barry Hore would step down as chief executive officer of Discovery Bank and would be replaced by the head of its local business, Hylton Kallner, from Jan. 1, 2021.
2020-12-10
South Africa`s National Treasury plans no further easing of its coronavirus loan scheme criteria to stimulate uptake, it told Reuters, meaning almost a third of the government`s 500 billion rand ($30 billion) relief package may end up going unused.
2020-09-15
South African banks are looking at options ranging from debt consolidation to new ways of leveraging equity to avoid defaults when coronavirus-related debt relief measures end, industry officials said.
2020-07-10
* Bad debts could hit 10% as coronavirus knocks economy - BASA
2020-06-18South African banks and the government are looking for ways to boost take up of an up to 200 billion rand ($11.58 billion) loan scheme to help coronavirus-hit businesses, two bank executives and a source close to the discussions told Reuters.
2020-06-15
South African lender FirstRand said on Thursday its full-year profits were likely to be more than 20% lower than in 2019 due to falling revenues and a spike in bad debts, pushing its shares down almost 2.5%
2020-06-04
South Africa`s competition watchdog has expanded its long-running rate-rigging case to target other lenders, including some of the country`s biggest banks, it said on Tuesday.
2020-06-02
South Africa`s competition watchdog said on Tuesday it had expanded its long-running rate-rigging case to target other additional lenders, including some of the country`s biggest banks.
2020-06-02
South Africa`s central bank said on Wednesday the coronavirus had resulted in far reaching risks to financial stability and banks` profitability would suffer, but lenders were in a good position to weather the storm.
2020-05-27
South African lender Capitec said on Tuesday it would not pay a dividend for its full year, although profits rose by 19%, in line with guidance from the country`s central back to scrap payouts amid the coronavirus outbreak.
2020-04-14
South African bank stocks recovered to make gains on Tuesday after the central bank signalled that its advice not to pay dividends did not include 2019`s and that the National Treasury was considering a scheme to encourage lending.
2020-04-07JSE:FSR JSE:SBK JSE:ABG JSE:NED JSE:INP JSE:INL JSE:AVI JSE:ARH
South Africa`s biggest retail banks say that around 15-20% of their lending books do not definitely qualify for coronavirus relief measures announced by the banks last week, though more could be done if the government were to provide fiscal support.
2020-03-30
South Africa`s rand weakened more than 1% on Friday and stocks fell as the country reported its first two deaths from the coronavirus and a sharp jump in new infections just as a three-week national lockdown commenced to try to curb the outbreak.
2020-03-27
South Africa`s central bank has started the process to appoint an advisor to manage the sale of its 50% holding in small lender African Bank, the company said on Friday, around six years after injecting 5 billion rand to rescue it.
2020-02-14
South African investment firm RMB Holdings (RMH) said on Tuesday it planned to distribute among shareholders its stake in lender FirstRand , worth about 130 billion rand ($8.8 billion), as part of a restructuring.
2019-11-19
South Africa`s Nedbank could pay off mortgages or fund holidays for a small number of customers that exhibit good financial behaviour under its revamped rewards programme, its head of loyalty and rewards Dharmesh Bhana told Reuters.
2019-11-14Solani Rivele, a single mother of four, earns about 800 rand ($55) a week but owes 100 times that amount in loans. Millions of South Africans like her rely on credit to feed their families.
2019-11-04
South Africa`s rand firmed on Friday, building on gains made after the government released a long-delayed plan for electricity generation to address crippling power cuts.
2019-10-18
South Africa`s Standard Bank has taken a stake in local fintech firm Nomanini to offer credit to potentially millions of small shop owners and other informal retailers across Africa that have limited access to banking services.
2019-08-27
Lawyers for South African President Cyril Ramaphosa have asked a court to not make public certain information contained in the record of the country`s corruption watchdog because it was obtained unlawfully, the Presidency said on Saturday.
2019-08-10Lawyers for South African President Cyril Ramaphosa have asked a court to seal financial records held by the country`s corruption watchdog because they were obtained unlawfully, online news site Times Live reported on Friday.
2019-08-09South Africa`s biggest banks are betting cut-price accounts, big mortgages and offers on everything from Adidas backpacks to Xboxes will help them win over the youth market, which many overlooked until it was targeted by a host of start-up rivals.
2019-07-15
South Africa`s rand was little changed late on Wednesday, struggling for momentum along with stocks as worries that a prolonged U.S.-China trade war will slow global growth put emerging markets under pressure.
2019-07-03A severe shortage of computer skills in South Africa has left its major banks fighting over a limited pool of people with the skills they need to upgrade technology platforms and keep pace with changing customer demands and competition from new rivals.
2019-06-14
FirstRand is to become the latest South African lender to slash prices on its retail banking products, as the arrival of a host of new, cheaper rivals sparks a scramble for customers among South African banks. FirstRand`s move, announced on Thursday, to cut fees and up rewards on its current accounts from July follows similar decisions by competitors like Standard Bank in response to cut-price or zero-fee offerings from new entrants.
2019-05-29South Africa`s MTN on Tuesday revealed plans to build a "market place" app where customers will be able to buy everything from insurance to washing machines as it seeks to build its mobile money platform MoMo into Africa`s biggest bank.
2019-05-28
South Africans were offered low-fee, digital accounts by two "traditional" banks this week in a sign of how competition from a new breed of cheaper, online-only rivals is driving change in the $30 billion market.
2019-05-21
South Africa`s rand strengthened more than 1% on Friday on expectations of political continuity, as the governing African National Congress (ANC) headed for a national election victory.
2019-05-10
South African lender Absa is aiming to make a start on its investment bank-focused expansion into Nigeria in the second half of this year, chief executive of the division, Charles Russon, told Reuters.
2019-04-10
Banking group Sasfin and money transfer service Hello Paisa will launch a bank in South Africa this year, hoping to bring thousands of people into the financial system for the first time, the firms said on Wednesday.
2019-03-06
South African services firm Bosasa, which is known as African Global Operations, said on Monday it had applied for voluntary liquidation after its banks told it they would close its accounts by the end of the month, citing reputational risk.
2019-02-18
South African lender Absa Group set out new targets to raise its return on equity (RoE) by around 4 percent by 2021, from levels currently among the lowest of South Africa`s big four banks.
2018-12-07Armed with low-cost operating models, three South African digital banks are betting on aggressive pricing and data analytics to attract tech-savvy, price-conscious consumers when they launch next year in a rare challenge to the old guard.
2018-12-04JSE:FSR JSE:SBK JSE:CPI JSE:SLM JSE:ABG JSE:NED JSE:DSY JSE:AVI JSE:SPG
South Africa`s Discovery Ltd said on Thursday it will issue about 10.9 million new shares to qualifying investors in order to raise 1.85 billion rand ($132 million) to help fund an acquisition of a stake and assets in soon to be launched Discovery bank.
2018-11-08
* Stocks recover, bank shares rise over 3 percent (analyst quotes, update prices)
2018-10-16
