In a Moneyweb market update published on 10 September 2026, the host flagged the loss in FirstRand’s United Kingdom operations, as the group released results for the year to 30 June 2026. The episode description says it will unpack FirstRand’s results, and the UK loss is the headline item.
The numbers behind that headline come from the group’s results as reported by BusinessTech. FirstRand’s UK businesses, Aldermore Bank and MotoNovo Finance, which together make up the Aldermore Group, are being sold. They are now classified as a discontinued operation and a disposal group held for sale. The group has said the UK consumer finance environment is increasingly uncertain, and that putting more capital into the business would not meet its risk appetite or hurdle rates.
A major factor is regulatory uncertainty over historical motor finance commission arrangements in the UK. FirstRand booked an additional pre-tax charge of £518.4 million (about R11.3 billion) for potential customer redress following the Financial Conduct Authority’s review, plus associated costs of £29.4 million. The total pre-tax impact was £547.8 million, about R12 billion, or R8.715 billion after tax. The balance sheet provision stood at R16.4 billion at 30 June 2026, up from R5.8 billion a year earlier.
Other charges linked to the exit include a goodwill impairment of R3.741 billion on the UK operation, restructuring charges of £18.1 million and transaction and separation costs of £4.8 million. Discontinued operations produced a net loss attributable to ordinary equityholders of R2.655 billion, against a profit of R3.444 billion the year before.
What it means for the group
The rest of the group held up. Normalised earnings from continuing operations rose 13% to R44.46 billion, with a return on equity of 24.9% on that basis. Total group normalised earnings, which include the discontinued UK business, fell 5% to R39.69 billion, with group return on equity at 18.3%. The total ordinary dividend rose 16% to 539 cents per share.
For business owners who bank with FirstRand in South Africa, the figures suggest the pressure sits in the UK operation and not in the local franchise. FirstRand has not announced any change to its South African lending terms in connection with the loss.
The sale timeline
A confidential information memorandum and virtual data room have been made available to bidders. Non-binding offers are expected by the end of September 2026, followed by due diligence, and final binding offers by the end of December 2026. The group expects the sale to be completed within 12 months.
FirstRand’s chief executive is Mary Vilakazi, who took over in April 2024 and became the group’s first woman CEO. The next disclosures worth watching are the bids and any sale price announced, which will show what the market makes of a UK lender carrying a large motor finance redress provision.
Also on the same episode
The same Moneyweb episode also covered Lesaka Technologies and the Lucky Bread Company, a small business featured in the programme.
