EasyEquities owner has a problem other companies wish they had

Purple Group expects its earnings in the 2026 financial year to grow by as much as 34.9%.

For many other companies, this would be strong, and perhaps record, earnings growth.

However, at 34.9%, Purple Group’s earnings growth in 2026 marks a significant slowdown from its 2025 growth rate.

Purple Group is the owner of EasyEquities, which has grown into the largest retail stockbroking platform in South Africa.

On Friday, 6 November, Purple Group released a trading statement for the year through August 2026.

This statement outlined the group’s expected earnings for the 2026 financial year, which are as follows:

• Basic earnings per share (EPS): up between 24.9% and 34.9%
• Headline earnings per share (HEPS): up between 22.3% and 32.3%

At these rates, Purple Group is set to slow from the strong growth it saw in the 2025 financial year, when EPS and HEPS rose by 142.94%.

In 2025, the vast majority of Purple Group’s earnings were derived from EasyEquities, which is housed in the Easy Group.

Easy Group reported revenue of R450 million in 2025, accounting for 92.5% of group revenue of R486.67 million.

This segment made a profit of R79.5 million, driven by a 15.7% increase in active clients to 1.15 million.

In the 2025 financial year, Easy Group’s client assets also rose by 38.6% to R80.7 billion.

While its earnings growth is set to slow significantly in 2026 compared to 2025, this is likely due to base effects, with the company now far larger than it was in 2024.

In May 2026, Purple Group announced that EasyEquities had hit the milestone of R100 billion in client assets, R19.3 billion higher than it was at the end of 2025.

For the first half of its 2026 financial year, Purple Group also reported that its interim profit had grown to R58.26 million, more than half the R78.82 million profit it reported in 2025.

Purple Group is expected to release its full results for the 2026 financial year on 11 November 2026.

On 6 November, following the release of its trading statement, Purple Group’s shares fell by 2.7%, extending its year-to-date loss to 18.6%.