Top South African CEO going out with a bang

The operator of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE), JSE Limited, has delivered record results on the back of a commodity rally that led to increased interest in South African assets.

Thanks to this strong performance, the stock exchange declared a special dividend for shareholders.

The JSE is the biggest stock exchange in Africa, with its listed entities having a combined market cap of R24 trillion.

JSE CEO Leila Fourie, who has been at the company’s helm since 2019, is set to step down at the end of this month. She will be succeeded by Valdene Reddy, who is currently the JSE’s Director of Capital Markets.

On Monday, 2 March, the JSE released its results for the 2025 financial year, which revealed a record performance.

The company’s revenue increased by 14.47% to R3.4 billion, while its operating income grew by 14.2% to R3.5 billion.

This was supported by strong performances across its segments, including equity market revenues in Capital Markets (18%), Post-Trade Services (18%), Information Services (10%) and JSE Clear (10%).

This allowed the JSE to record an over R1 billion profit for the year, up 16.66% compared to 2024. The JSE’s basic earnings per share surged to 1,322.3 cents, marking a 17.08% increase.

The company explained that these strong results came amid renewed national confidence and global interest in South African assets/

“The bourse’s growth was driven by elevated equity market activity, proactive cost management and consistent execution across its core business lines and a diversified revenue base, demonstrating high quality of earnings,” it said.

This marks a strong turnaround for the JSE, which had struggled in recent years due to a string of delistings.

However, the company has been implementing a strategy to simplify its listing requirements and make it easier for companies and investors to trade on the bourse.

In addition, the exchange has sought to diversify its revenue streams, making it less reliant on equity trading for income.

“Throughout the delivery of Strategy 2026, we have consistently focused on growing the business, enhancing our quality of earnings, protecting our core business and enhancing operational resilience by investing in people, technology infrastructure upgrades and broadening our offering,” outgoing CEO Leila Fourie said. 

“As we near the conclusion of this strategy cycle, our strategic priority has been to transform the JSE into an innovative, sustainable exchange for the future and a conduit for growth in South Africa’s financial markets.”

She pointed out that the combined market capitalisation of the JSE’s listed entities has nearly doubled from R12.6 trillion in 2019 to over R24 trillion today.

The JSE has also boosted its return on equity from 17% in 2019 to 22% in 2025.

On the back of these record results, the JSE declared an ordinary dividend of 961 cents per share, as well as a special dividend of 100 cents per share.