South African executive Mary Vilakazi saw her stake in FirstRand climb by 329,000 shares during the banking group’s 2026 financial year, pushing the market value of her direct beneficial holding to $5.04 million from $3.15 million. The increase of $1.89 million came entirely from the vesting and settlement of executive share awards rather than open-market transactions.

Disclosed shareholding records show Vilakazi held 547,000 FirstRand ordinary shares in 2025. Her position expanded to 876,000 shares in 2026, marking a net increase of 60.1 percent. The growth reflects several executive incentive packages that matured and settled during the twelve months ended June 30, 2026.

Note 3 of the group’s financial statements, which details directors’ emoluments and outstanding incentives for prescribed officers, shows that a 2022 Long-Term Incentive award under the Combined Incentive Plan vested in September 2025, delivering 243,557 share units with a settlement value of R19.781 million. A 2023 Deferred Short-Term Incentive award also vested that same month, adding 75,737 share units valued at R6.139 million.

Another 3,589 award units were settled under the 2025 Restricted Long-Term Incentive programme. FirstRand’s directors’ report notes that Vilakazi’s disclosed beneficial interest includes restricted awards held under the Broad-Based Share Ownership Plan. These disclosed allocations explain the full movement in her beneficial holding, with no open-market purchases recorded for the period.

Mary Vilakazi drives record FirstRand dividends

Mary Vilakazi stepped into the chief executive role in April 2024, succeeding Alan Pullinger. Her appointment marked a turning point for the Sandton-based financial services group, making her the first woman and the second Black executive to lead the lender. She oversees an operation whose portfolio spans First National Bank, WesBank, Rand Merchant Bank, Aldermore, and Ashburton.

The expansion of her equity interest coincided with a robust operational showing for the financial year ended June 30, 2026. FirstRand delivered double-digit earnings growth across its key retail and corporate banking arms in South Africa and across the continent. Even as the lender set aside a material provision to cover historical UK vehicle financing commissions and managed the divestment of Aldermore Group, it distributed its largest-ever annual dividend to shareholders.

FirstRand declared a final ordinary cash dividend of R2.8 ($0.17) per share, taking the total ordinary distribution for the 2026 financial year to R5.39 ($0.33) per share. That payout represents a 16 percent increase from the R4.66 ($0.28) per share paid out in 2025. Strong internal capital formation underpinned the distribution, lifting the bank’s Common Equity Tier 1 ratio to 13.9 percent, well above its targeted operating range of 11.5 percent to 12.5 percent.

FirstRand normalized profit beats UK hit

Headline earnings declined 5 percent to R39.69 billion ($2.46 billion) from R41.88 billion ($2.6 billion) in the prior year, pulled lower by an additional post-tax charge of R8.72 billion ($541.3 million) linked to the remediation review into UK vehicle finance commissions. Stripping out the UK provision, total normalized earnings rose 10 percent to R48.41 billion ($3 billion). Normalized earnings from continuing operations grew 13 percent to R44.46 billion ($2.76 billion) from R39.42 billion ($2.44 billion), generating a return on equity of 24.9 percent.

Continuing operations drew heavy support from FirstRand’s core domestic banking franchises. Normalized earnings at First National Bank rose 12 percent to R26.44 billion ($1.64 billion), aided by elevated transaction counts, solid card spending, and a 6 percent rise in net interest income. Rand Merchant Bank delivered a 15 percent gain in normalized earnings to R12.29 billion ($763.1 million), buoyed by corporate advisory mandates, private equity exits, and stronger trading across global markets desks.

Vehicle and asset finance specialist WesBank recorded a 4 percent slip in earnings to R2.29 billion ($142.2 million), as higher bad-debt provisions countered a 14 percent expansion in core customer advances. Group Treasury and central operations contributed R5.16 billion ($320.4 million), an 18 percent rise from the previous year. Outside Africa, FirstRand formally initiated the sale of its UK retail unit, Aldermore Group, moving the subsidiary into discontinued operations and booking a non-cash goodwill impairment of R3.74 billion ($232.2 million).