Purple Group reports profit jump as EasyEquities platform drives client growth

The Purple Group has reported a strong half-year performance to the end of February 2026, driven by growth in its EasyEquities business.

The derivatives trading and asset management company is also expanding EasyEquities into the Philippines, a nation with a population of over 115 million.

For the six-month period, group revenue increased by 8.8% to R258.5 million, while group operating expenses were up at a marginal 0.5% to R161.1 million.

"That gap is the result of a decade of building a platform designed to scale, and a client base that deepens its engagement year after year", the Group said.

The focus of growth has been the Easy Group, which delivered a revenue increae of 18.5% while costs were up just 1.6%.

Its active client base grew to 1.24 million, while total client assets rose to R94.9 billion, up 41.2% year on year.

Group basic and headline earnings per share increased by 21.0% to 2.86 cents, compared to 2.36 cents per share in 2025 year to date.

The Purple Group said EasyEquities Philippines is now "live in a regulated sandbox with early users transacting in production".

"The country has 115 million people. Our partner GCash has over 97 million registered users, over 80 million of whom are active, the dominant financial infrastructure of the market."

Stephen Grootes asks CEO Charles Savage what it is that is driving growth for the Group.

Savage highlights the fact that they're getting "better and better" at marketing and its conversion, and what he says is the snowball effect of winning more clients.

"It's like a snowball rolling downhill because the biggest customers come from referrals, so the more customers we have, the more arrive."

He also cites an unlikely marketing agent in the form of US President Donald Trump.

"It's interesting to note that the more news there is around markets, the more people pitch up to invest... Trump has been a catalyst for news, especially with the impact on markets, ever since he stepped into office. He's a great marketing agent for us and customers joining our platform."

They also leverage gamification or the behavioural aspect of the business, Savage says, much as Discovery does in the health space, for instance.

"We incentivise customers to bring their friends and family along and get active on the platform, educate themselves and a whole lot of other things. We have to play into those behavioural mechanics - that is the modern world and if we didn't do it, we would have less customers."

Scroll up to the audio player to hear more from the Purple Group CEO