Shareholders and noteholders are advised that Discoveryis in the process of finalising its financial results for the twelve months ended 30 June 2024, which will be released on the Stock Exchange News Service of the JSE Limited on Thursday, 19th September 2024. This trading statement indicates the ranges of headline earnings and earnings attributable to equity holders of the Group by paragraph 3.4(b) of the Listings Requirements of the JSE Limited. Full-year earnings will be reported under the IFRS 17 Insurance Contracts accounting standard for the first time, with the results for the twelve months ended 30 June 2023 (“prior year”) restated, as required.
Discovery expects the following results for the year ended 30 June 2024 (“the reporting year”):
New business increased by 18%;
Normalised profit from operations is expected to have increased by between 15% and 20%;
Normalised headline earnings (“NHE”) is expected to have increased by between 12% and 17%; and
Headline earnings (“HE”) is expected to have increased by between 4% and 9%.
Mr Brendan Deegan has been appointed as an independent non-executive director and a member of the Audit Committee, with effect from 1 October 2024.
The normalisation adjustment to headline earnings largely relates to the realisation of the UK interest rate swaption during the second half of the prior financial year, resulting in no profit or loss during the reporting year in contrast to the prior year fair value gain. Consistent with prior reporting, headline earnings are normalised for this.