'Fearless' ex-Capitec boss bids adieu to R51m in stock

02 November 2014 - 02:09 By THEKISO ANTHONY LEFIFI
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Former CE of Capitec Riaan Stassen. File photo
Former CE of Capitec Riaan Stassen. File photo

Former Capitec boss Riaan Stassen dumped R51-million worth of shares in the unsecured lender in the past week.

In his latest transaction, on Friday, he sold R25.9-million worth of Capitec shares.

Why would someone who is always talking up the bank dump so much? "To rebalance my portfolio," said Stassen, now holidaying in France.

Stassen said he was "too heavy" on the stock.

"At the moment, I've still got 1.74million in Capitec shares [worth R212-million] ... and that is the level I want to keep it on."

Despite jitters which escalated when African Bank imploded in August, Capitec's share price has surged almost 40% this year, outperforming the 20% gain in the JSE's banks index.

This month, Capitec directors, including financial director Andre du Plessis and chairman Michiel le Roux, sold R424-million worth of Capitec stock.

The 61-year-old Stassen said a person of his age needed to get a more diversified portfolio. "I don't take an emotional decision when I look at my investments.

"I take a clinical call."

He said his share deals were no indication that he was scared of the unsecured-lending sector overheating. "If I was scared, I would not sell 100000 shares; I would sell a million.

"I believe in [Capitec]. I believe in its growth prospects. And frankly, [with] African Bank out of the way, obviously there is more scope," he said.

Stassen said he bought only blue-chip companies with solid track records and reasonable dividend yields - for him that is 3%. His favoured stocks included SABMiller, British American Tobacco and Richemont.

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