Pepkor chair Wendy Luhabe will leave the retailer’s board on June 30, 2026, ending a seven-year tenure as the JSE-listed group moves ahead with plans to launch its own licensed bank.
The leadership change comes months after Pepkor secured regulatory approval to establish a bank and follows another period of strong growth for the group’s retail and financial services divisions.
The company has earmarked approximately R920 million for the project and expects to launch the fully licensed bank by April 2027.
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Pepkor confirms Wendy Luhabe’s departure
Pepkor announced on Tuesday that Luhabe will step down from the board at the end of June.
She joined the board in January 2019 and became chair in December 2020. The company said she decided to scale back her board commitments after years of serving in leadership roles at some of South Africa’s largest businesses.
Luhabe previously chaired Libstar and held leadership positions at Vodacom and the Industrial Development Corporation. She also serves as a non-executive director of Richemont.
Pepkor appointed former Sanlam Group CEO Ian Kirk as acting chair while the board searches for a permanent successor.
“Ian Kirk, who serves as Lead Independent Director of Pepkor, will act as Chair of the Board and as Chair of the Nominations Committee until a new Chairperson of the Board and a new Chairperson of the Nominations Committee is appointed,” the company said in a statement via JSE SENS.
Kirk has served as lead independent director since June 2021. He will also chair the nominations committee until the company completes the appointment process.
Strong financial performance backs banking ambitions
The board transition comes at a critical phase as Pepkor prepares to enter South Africa’s banking sector following the South African Reserve Bank’s approval of its application in late 2025.
The momentum behind this banking strategy is heavily supported by Pepkor’s latest financial results for the six months ended March 31, 2026.
At a macro level, total group revenue increased by 13.2% to R54.8 billion, while overall operating profit rose 9.4% to R6.3 billion. Normalised headline earnings per share also increased by 12.1%.
Driving a significant portion of this growth—and justifying the R920 million banking investment—is the group’s rapidly expanding financial services division.
Revenue for this specific segment surged by 41.6% to R3 billion during the half-year, while its operating profit leaped 63.4% to R691 million.
This fintech ecosystem currently includes credit products, insurance offerings, and personal lending through Capfin, which maintained a gross credit book of R5.3 billion during the reporting period.
As NOWinSA continues to track the evolution of the local retail landscape, the broader business and fintech sectors are waiting in keen anticipation for the official announcement of Pepkor’s permanently appointed chair.
The incoming chairperson inherits a massive operation overseeing more than 6,600 stores and R95.3 billion in annual revenue, balanced against the highly technical challenge of building a primary commercial bank from scratch.
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