Multimillionaire banker Hitesh Anadkat earns $1.3 million as Letshego shares hit high

Malawian multimillion-dollar banking tycoon Hitesh Anadkat has gained $1.3 million in 125 days from his stake in Letshego Holdings Limited.

The gains came off the back of a resurgence in investor interest in the Botswana-based microfinance holding. The renewed buying interest has pushed the company’s share price to a record two-year high.

Letshego Holdings, coined from the Setswana* word, “Letshego,” meaning, “support,” is a microfinance holding headquartered in Gaborone, Botswana’s capital and largest city.

Aside from its operations in its home country, it has pan-African operations in 10 Sub-Saharan African markets, including Mozambique, Nigeria, Namibia, Kenya, Tanzania, and others.

Anadkat, who also founded the Mauritius-based FMB Capital Holdings, holds a significant stake in the microfinance holding.

As of press time 1:00 PM (UTC), Aug. 3, shares in Letshego Holdings were worth BWP1.05 ($0.0953) per share on the Botswana bourse, while the company’s market capitalization was valued at BWP2.25 billion ($204.26 million).

Sustained buying pressure on the company’s shares as investors and analysts digest its 2020 financial report has seen its shares rise by more than 50 percent since the end of Q1.

The COVID-19 pandemic impacted Letshego’s performance in 2020. The company suffered a nine-percent decline in net interest income from BWP2.05 billion ($187.16 million) in 2019 to BWP1.86 billion ($169.81 million) in 2020.

A challenging working environment in 2020 triggered a decline in its operating income and profit for the year by 10 percent and 13 percent, respectively.

The gradual reopening across countries and increased economic activities in the first half of 2021 have led analysts to expect an improved performance in the first half of 2021. This bullish bias spurred the recent buying interest in Letshego.

Data retrieved from the Botswana Stock Exchange revealed that shares in the company have increased from BWP0.69 ($0.06264) on March 31 to BWP1.05 ($0.0953) as of press time 1:00 PM (UTC), Aug. 3.

Further research by Billionaires.Africa revealed that Hitesh Anadkat’s 1.9-percent stake in the company, or 39,885,000 ordinary shares, has increased in value by BWP14.36 million ($1.30 million) in the past 125 days.

The market value of his stake in Letshego Holdings between March 31 and Aug. 3 has increased from BWP27.52 million ($2.50 million) to BWP41.88 million ($3.80 million).

Setswana* or Tswana, sometimes referred to as Western Sotho, is a native language spoken in Southern Africa by about 8.2 million people.