Capital bank rebrands to First Capital

Capital Bank has rebranded to First Capital, as its parent company FMBcapital Holdings launched a single identity for operations in Botswana, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Zambia and Mozambique which is yet to rebrand at a later stage. First Capital, Chief Executive Officer, Jaco Viljoen said the bank’s new image will not influence its operations or change focus on clients needs. “We will retain our focus on relationships, as we work alongside our clients and communities to help them achieve their extraordinary,” said Viljoen. “Relationships will therefore remain at the core of our business, even as we continue to grow,” he added.First Capital Bank was first founded in Malawi in 1995, as First Merchant Bank (FMB) and had grown into a regional banking group. With a total 2.5 billion pula in assets on the local market and 2.2 billion pula in clients’ deposits, the bank has plans to keep pace with growth both locally and in the region, providing integrated services across all the five countries where its footprint is found. “We do not expect anything to change if not improving it. As we help customers achieve the extra ordinary,” said Hitesh Anadkat, First Capital Bank’s Board Chairman. First Capital’s appetite for growth is also supported by figures from the 2017 financial year results. The bank’s loans extended to clients grew by 47 percent under the Capital Bank brand and posted a 14 percent increase in profits in the same year in Botswana. In addition, while total profits in Botswana’s banking sector has declined sharply in recent years, First Capital Bank has posted a compounded annual growth rate in profit after tax of 25 percent over the past five years. Currently the Pan-African bank employs over 1800 staff serving a client base of approximately 840 000 customers across the region.