Discovery is crushing it
Discovery has seen a massive jump in earnings for the year ended 30 June 2025, with the group’s banking division becoming profitable for the first time over an extended period.
The group said that its headline earnings and normalised headline earnings both increased by 30% to R9,625 million and R9,781 million, respectively.
This resulted in the normalised return on equity increasing to 15.4%, from 13.5% in the prior year.
The group also delivered a strong performance in an environment characterised by increased geopolitical complexities and uncertainty around global policy shifts and trade tensions.
In the year under review, economic growth was below potential in many regions where the group operates.
That said, interest rate reductions provided a better backdrop for investment markets.
Risks remained elevated; however, it said that the acceleration of technological and demographic trends underpinned its shared-value model and unique data, positioning it for future growth.
“Discovery has emerged strongly from its cycle of significant investment, which focused on creating new avenues for long-term growth,” it said.
“This has positioned the Group for a new distinct phase of scaled organic growth, with focused execution through its recently formed global composite, Vitality, and its domestic business, Discovery South Africa.”
Overall, the group’s basic earnings per share rose by 26% to 1,402.2 cents, while its headline earnings per share increased by 30% to 1,447 cents.
The group declared a final dividend of 152 cents per share, adding to the 87 cents per share seen in the first half of the year.
Discovery Bank sees strong growth
Discovery South Africa saw 22% growth in normalised profit from operations over the period.
“Excellent levels of customer engagement drove strong claims experience and retention across the franchise.”
“A resulting increased Vitality benefit utilisation, and successful launch of the new HealthyFood partner, added to various additional one-off costs at the centre, both of which are expected to ameliorate in FY2026.”
Discovery Bank continued to see high-quality growth, with the total number of clients increasing by 30%. Advances rose by 39%, while deposits increased by 26%.
This resulted in strong revenue growth, and the bank saw its first profitable period during the second half of the financial year, which was ahead of plan.
For the full financial year, the bank still declared a R68 million loss, but this was an 85% improvement from the previous financial year.
Discovery Health’s operating profit increased by 7%, with further investment in technology, innovation, and AI expected to drive continued innovation in the shared-value model and deepen efficiencies.
Discovery Life’s normalised operating profit increased 14%, which was mainly driven by an exceptional claims experience.
Discovery Invest delivered a 29% increase in normalised operating profit following strong growth in the value of assets under management and certain one-off benefits.
Discovery Insure also successfully executed pricing and claims management initiatives, which, combined with good weather conditions, resulted in a significant improvement in the claims ratio and a 229% increase in operating profits.
Looking internationally, the Vitality business saw a massive 70% rise in normalised profit to R3.2 billion.
The group said that the rise in earnings reflects progress made in restructuring all the global operations into a focused single business, as well as strong growth in the UK.
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