South Africa’s largest stock exchange gets a boost

The JSE Ltd reported strong results for its 2024 financial year, benefiting from improved sentiment under the Government of National Unity (GNU).

The JSE runs the largest stock exchange in Africa and boasts more than 800 listed securities, approximately 400 listed companies, and 60 equity market member firms.

The JSE released its results for the year ended 31 December 2025 on Monday, 3 March 2025, which revealed a strong performance.

The JSE reported 10.4% growth in net profit after tax and an improved return on equity of 20.2%, up from 19.4% the year prior. 

The company recorded revenue growth across most of its asset classes off the back of sustained positive market sentiment following the formation of the GNU in June 2024. 

JSE Investor Services revenue was up 20.2%, Primary Markets revenue was up by 15.6%, commodity derivatives revenue was up by 11.6%, and revenue from bonds and financial derivatives was up 6.6%.

CEO Leila Fourie said the company’s strategy to build a diversified and resilient exchange group was supported by non-trading income, which increased by 7.5% to R1.17 billion.

This segment now contributes 37.8% of the company’s operating income, up from 36.8% in 2023. 

The company’s net finance income increased by 21.3% to R205 million due to higher yields on the JSE’s cash and bond balances and a favourable interest rate environment.

“I am particularly pleased with the structural reductions in our cost base, which helped restrain total expenditure growth to 6.2%,” she said.

“This performance was underpinned by robust operational processes and uptime of 99.97% across all our systems.”

The JSE’s basic earnings per share grew by 10.8% to 1,129.4 cents, while headline earnings per share increased by 9.6% to 1,128.6 cents per share.

Fourie said the business remains strongly cash-generative, with net cash generated from operations of R1.09 billion.

She said this enabled the board to increase its ordinary dividend by 5.6% to 828 cents per share, translating into a total distribution to shareholders of R715 million.

“The group is committed to its growth and diversification strategy,” she said. 

The company cited its diversified asset classes as one of the contributing factors to its 5.2% growth in operating income.

“These solid results demonstrate the value of our investments across the value chain, in our technology and our people, and provide further momentum for future growth,” Fourie said.