Purple Group swings to profit in ‘milestone year’

Purple Group reported excellent results for the six months through February 2024, achieving a strong start to what CEO Charles Savage has deemed a “milestone year” for the company.

Purple Group – which owns the popular investment platform EasyEquities – released its results for the six months that ended 29 February 2024 today.

Revenue increased by almost 30%, going from R146.02 million in 2023 to R188.79 million.

This was aided by a massive jump in the company’s net income before other income, fair value and impairment adjustments, interest, depreciation and amortisation, which swung from a loss of R4.01 million to income of R40.45 million.

This saw the company make a profit of R13.45 million for the six-month period, compared to a loss of R15.65 million in 2023 – a 185.9% increase.

The profit attributable to ordinary shareholders of Purple Group amounts to R10.9 million YTD 2024, compared to a loss of R10.6 million in the prior comparative period.

Purple Group’s earnings per share swung from loss to profit, increasing by 192.9% to 0.78 cents per share.

The company’s net asset value per share grew by 7.4% to 41.6 cents per share.

The largest portion of these results were derived from the Easy Group, which includes EasyEquities.

The Easy Group saw a 34.9% increase in revenue to R165.4 million.

It made a profit of R16.74 million in the period, compared to a loss of R20.93 million in 2023 – a 179.9% increase.

“We are at a pivotal juncture, halfway through what I believe will be a milestone year for the Purple Group,” Savage said. 

“It’s been nearly a decade since EasyEquities began, and I am constantly reminded to stay ‘in the moment’, focused on fulfilling and exceeding the ambitious goals we set when we started in 2014.”

He said these half-year results will provide a solid foundation from which the company will round out a decade of democratising investing later this year.

“These results are a testament to the strategic foresight and vision that gave birth to EasyEquities in October 2014,” he said. 

“It has been a period of extraordinary growth, learning, and, most importantly, making investing easy and accessible for everyone.” 

“This record now holds us accountable across all economic cycles. Notably, these results may very well serve as the last delivered in a tough economic environment for some time to come.”