South African fintech chief Charles Savage leads Purple Group to record $6.68 million profit

South African executive Charles Savage has steered Johannesburg-listed fintech operator Purple Group to record full-year earnings, shrugging off a steep slump in cryptocurrency trading. For the financial year ended Aug. 31, 2026, profit after tax surged 42.2 percent to $6.68 million, fueled by surging retail deposits on its flagship EasyEquities platform and sharper operating leverage across its digital brokerage network.

Crossing the R100 million milestone

The financial services operator crossed a major profitability threshold as after-tax profit climbed to R112.04 million ($6.68 million) from R78.82 million a year earlier. Profit attributable to owners rose 30.6 percent to R79.72 million ($4.75 million), while group pre-tax profit advanced 36 percent to R150.25 million, cementing its strongest annual financial performance.

Headline earnings per share jumped 27.3 percent to 5.47 cents, up from 4.30 cents in fiscal 2025, as basic earnings per share climbed 29.9 percent to 5.58 cents. Results absorbed a R22.57 million ($1.35 million) net hedging loss at derivatives arm EasyTrader after a first-half correlation break. Excluding that swing, pre-tax profit surged 68.5% to R172.8 million.

Core engine powers past crypto

Under Savage, group revenue grew 9.8 percent to R534.25 million ($31.86 million) while operating expenses rose 8.3 percent to R363.51 million ($21.68 million). Core unit Easy Group lifted revenue 14.6 percent to R515.95 million ($30.77 million) and pre-tax profit 49.4 percent to R160.53 million ($9.57 million). Stripping out EasyCrypto, where revenue fell 38.5 percent, Easy Group pre-tax profit soared 134 percent.

Recurring non-activity revenue climbed 14.9 percent to R277 million ($16.52 million), providing 53.7 percent of Easy Group’s top line, while activity-based fees rose 14.2 percent to R238.9 million ($14.25 million). Retail revenue jumped 20.3 percent to R382.7 million ($22.83 million), backed by Satrix, Capitec and Discovery Bank partnerships. Meanwhile, EasyRetire assets under management expanded 27.5 percent to R19 billion ($1.13 billion).

Better unit economics amplified those gains across the retail brokerage business. Average revenue per active retail client edged up 3 percent to R311 ($18.55), while the cost to serve each active user dropped 5.7 percent to R165 ($9.84). That widening gap compressed the retail efficiency ratio from 58 percent down to 53 percent, proving the platform scales profitably.

Global push and AI bet

Customer acquisition accelerated throughout fiscal 2026 as active retail clients rose 14.8 percent to 1,316,123, boosted by 237,074 first-time funded accounts. Total registered users climbed 17 percent to 3.08 million. Retail inflows surged 51.1 percent to R16.81 billion ($1.00 billion), pushing total client assets up 32.8 percent to R107.2 billion ($6.39 billion) from R80.7 billion.

Management wasted no time deploying that momentum after year-end, going live to Absa’s 12 million banking customers in October 2026. The company also closed its acquisition of Telescope AI for up to $10.75 million in September, while preparing a first-quarter commercial launch in Kenya alongside live GCash sandbox operations in the Philippines.

A debt-free fortress balance sheet

Strong cash generation fortified Purple Group’s balance sheet heading into the new financial year. Total assets swelled to R2.19 billion ($130.58 million) as of Aug. 31, 2026, up from R1.26 billion ($75.43 million) a year prior, lifted by higher financial assets, crypto inventory and cash deposits totaling R386.52 million ($23.05 million).

Total equity expanded 17.8 percent to R950.88 million ($56.71 million) from R807.18 million in fiscal 2025. Shareholders’ funds attributable to owners increased 16.6 percent to R782.89 million ($46.69 million), pushing net asset value per share up 15.2 percent to 54.40 cents and leaving the fintech operator with a clean, debt-free capital base for international expansion.