Discovery set to shoot the lights out

Discovery expects its headline earnings per share to rise by between 31% and 36% for the financial year ended 30 June 2026. 

This was revealed in a trading statement published by the company on the JSE news service early on Wednesday, 26 August. 

Growth at this rate comes off a strong base of R9.6 billion in headline earnings for the 2025 financial year, which also represented a 30% year-on-year jump. 

This is far above even Discovery’s internal targets of 15% annual growth until 2029. Meeting this target would effectively double the business’s size. 

Doubling the size of a business that generated over R70 billion in revenue in its 2023 financial year and R6.6 billion in profit is no mean feat. 

For the 2026 financial year, Discovery expects normalised profit to rise by between 15% and 20% year-on-year. 

This growth is driven by strong performance across its businesses, with Discovery South Africa’s profit expected to rise by over 13% and Vitality Global’s by over 18%. 

Crucially, this set of results will be the first where Discovery Bank is set to be in the black, with it posting a R75 million profit at the half-year stage.

Discovery said that profit and headline earnings have been boosted in the current financial year by lower finance costs, in line with its planned debt reduction. 

CEO Adrian Gore has previously explained to Daily Investor that if Discovery’s growth continues to surprise to the upside, it provides significant optionality for the business. 

Gore has no doubt that sustaining this level of growth will be extremely hard for the company, but believes that it can be done. 

“I mean, we are at an interim phase. It has been a very good period, but we are still kind of guiding towards just saying we have got this target and that is where we are going,” Gore said. 

“As I have said before, if you are compounding growth at 15% or higher, the effect of that is immense. As an example, in the past two years we have grown by more than we did in the decade prior.”

Gore has been clear that the company will take a long-term view in its decision-making and is not seeking quick wins at the expense of sustainability. 

“Our view is that we are not traders. We are operators and do not speculate on short-term fluctuations. We do not take a single view on anything for the immediate benefit. We look at things over the long term,” Gore explained. 

Discovery is expected to release its financial results for the 2026 financial year on 3 September.