FirstRand does not usually chase unknowns. But the banking group behind FNB has quietly poured nearly R5 billion into Optasia, an AI-led fintech most South Africans have never heard of, and on Thursday the market finally saw why. Optasia's shares jumped as much as 16% in intraday trade before closing 6.46% higher at R15.99, their best day since the company listed on the JSE in November.
What sparked the jump
The trigger was a trading update for the six months to end-June. Optasia told investors it expects revenue to come in 50% to 60% higher than a year earlier when it reports its interim results in September, helped by strong growth in Ghana, Pakistan, Indonesia and the Republic of Congo. It also reaffirmed its full-year outlook of revenue and adjusted earnings (its EBITDA measure) both growing more than 30%. The heart of the business is small, instant loans delivered over the phone, which now make up about 72% of revenue and have become the group's biggest growth engine.
Why FirstRand keeps buying in
FirstRand first bought a 20% stake for nearly R5 billion, then lifted its holding to 26.1% in March. The appeal is scale: Optasia, founded in 2012, lends more than $15 million a day, processes about 1.5 billion credit decisions a month and operates in 38 countries. The update also showed it can absorb shocks. A two-month regulatory shutdown of its airtime-lending business in Nigeria, after it fell foul of new rules on non-traditional lending in Africa's most populous nation, was offset by growth elsewhere; the service only restarted the week before. That spread across many emerging markets is exactly what let the group keep growing while one country stumbled. For a bank whose home market is growing slowly, a bigger slice of a fast-scaling lender across Africa and Asia is a useful hedge.
What comes next
Optasia has just pushed into two more markets, Gabon and South Sudan, and launched its first loans aimed at merchants rather than only consumers, a product it plans to roll out across its existing footprint. Thursday's jump suggests investors are warming to FirstRand's bet, but the real proof comes in September, when the actual half-year numbers land.
