Discovery’s shares surged on Wednesday morning after it said it expects to report a robust performance for the six months ending December 31, 2024, with significant growth across key financial metrics.

By 10.51am the share price was up 5.84% at R206 on the JSE.

Discovery is an integrated financial services organisation, which operates in the healthcare, life insurance, short-term insurance, long-term savings, banking, and wellness markets.

The Group attributes this success to a strong operating performance across its businesses, including Discovery South Africa and Vitality.

Vitality is the single global composite comprising Vitality United Kingdom and Vitality Global, as announced on August 7, 2024.

The company expects normalised profit from operations to rise between 25% and 30%, reflecting continued business resilience and strategic execution. Headline earnings and normalised headline earnings are anticipated to increase by 30% to 35% compared to the prior period, highlighting Discovery’s strong financial trajectory.

Earnings per share (Eps) is forecast to grow by 30% to 35%, reaching between 628.3 cents and 652.5 cents, compared to the restated Eps of 483.3 cents from the previous year. Similarly, headline earnings per share (Heps) is projected to range between 629.3 cents and 653.5 cents, while normalised Heps is expected to rise to between 641.0 cents and 665.7 cents.

The prior period’s earnings have been restated to reflect IFRS 17 refinements for VitalityLife, as detailed in Annexure B of Discovery’s reviewed annual financial results for the year ended June 30, 2024, it said.

Discovery plans to release its official results for the half-year period on or around March 4, 2025.

BUSINESS REPORT