Rupert's Remgro announces huge dividend hike in windfall for shareholders

Remgro, chaired by Johann Rupert, has announced a strong set of interim results for the six months ended 31 December 2025.

This was supported by continued improvement in the operational performance of the majority of its investee companies, the financial services company said.

Remgro declared an interim dividend per share of 173 cents - a massive increase of over 80%.

Headline earnings jumped 38.8% to R5.1 billion, compared to R3.7 billion for the previous half year.

Headline earnings per share (HEPS) were up 38.5% to 931 cents from 672 cents.

"While the broader macro environment remains volatile, we believe the portfolio is well positioned for continued growth, supported by disciplined capital allocation and strong partnerships with our management teams”, said CEO Jannie Durand.

The growth in headline earnings was driven in the main by increased contributions from Mediclinic Holdings of R485 million, and Rainbow Chicken with R280 million.

However, the company is directly exposed to the current upheaval in the Middle East through Mediclinic’s healthcare operations in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Stephen Grootes asks Remgro CEO Jannie Durand how worried they are about the impact on this business of the ongoing conflict in the region.

"A couple of weeks ago we wouldn't have been worried because it was just a performing operation, the best operated in the Middle East which as a South African company we're very proud of. We salute our management teams - they're working closely with the government of the UAE, keeping the hospitals open... Our inpatient volumes seem to be fine, it's just the outpatient volumes that are not so great at the moment with people not travelling."

In terms of the ripple effects of the Iran war for South Africa, Durand says he's not so much concerned just about Remgro's businesses but about South Africa Inc.

As he puts it, nobody knows when the conflict is going to end, "probably not even the President of the US".

"It is a concerning thing that the longer it goes on the bigger the impact would be. We're going to have some fuel shortages considering that around 50% of the fuel comes from that region and you can't just redirect that; also we've only got one operating refinery."

"It will have an impact not just on our companies but on SA Inc. The people are not in a great position for higher inflation, food prices, all of that - we could go back to some of the COVID days which will not be good."

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