The Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) has reported record financial results for the 2025 financial year, achieving double-digit growth for the second consecutive year.
The performance reflects elevated equity market activity, disciplined cost management, consistent execution across core business lines, and a diversified revenue base that generated high-quality earnings.
Net profit after tax (NPAT) increased by 16.7% to R1 071 million (2024: R918 million), while headline earnings per share (HEPS) rose 17.7% year-on-year.
Return on equity (ROE) improved to 22.0% from 20.2% in the prior year. Operating income grew 14.2% to R3.5 billion, supported by strong contributions across capital markets, post-trade services, and information services.
Revenue Growth Across Core Segments
The JSE’s revenue performance was broad-based, with notable increases in several key areas:
- Capital Markets: Equity trading revenue rose 28.5% to R571 million. Equity derivatives increased 13.5% to R130 million. Bond and financial derivatives grew 12.2% to R156 million. Commodity derivatives advanced 5.5% to R94 million.
- Post-Trade Services: Clearing and settlement revenue increased 33.8% to R548 million, reflecting higher volumes and improved efficiency in post-trade operations.
- Information Services: Revenue grew 9.8% to R498 million, driven by expanded data products and client demand for market information.
- Strate: Revenue rose 20.7% to R192 million, supported by increased custody and settlement activity.
The group generated R6.1 billion in cash from operations (up 12.3% year-on-year) and achieved free cash flow of R3.8 billion.
The board declared an ordinary dividend of 961 cents per share (2024: 828 cents) and a special dividend of 100 cents per share (2024: nil), resulting in a total payout ratio of 85.6% and a 28.1% increase in the overall dividend year-on-year.
Operational Resilience and Strategic Progress
The JSE maintained 99.96% uptime across all markets during the year, exceeding the long-run average despite increased average daily volumes.
This operational dependability reflects sustained investment in infrastructure and technology resilience.
Significant milestones under Strategy 2026 include:
- Modernisation of the Broker Dealer Accounting (BDA) system, with the pilot phase delivered ahead of schedule by the end of 2025, reducing dependency on legacy mainframe systems and lowering running costs.
- Enhancements to listing requirements to attract and retain listings.
- Expansion of core products, including Bond Repos and JSE Fix Hub.
- Growth in Colo 2.0 secondary cloud solution clients, improving outage mitigation and business continuity.
- Completion of the technology phase of Information Services modernisation, with 29 new data products launched.
- Progress on the central clearing solution for the bond electronic trading platform (Bond CCP), on track for go-live in 2027, is expected to increase liquidity, reduce counterparty risk, and enhance transparency.
- Continued scaling of the JSE Claim It initiative, reuniting unclaimed dividends with rightful owners. Since March 2025, nearly 87,000 individuals have checked eligibility, with close to 13,000 matched.
Throughout the delivery of Strategy 2026, we have consistently focused on growing the business, enhancing our quality of earnings, protecting our core business, and enhancing operational resilience by investing in people, technology infrastructure upgrades, and broadening our offering. As we near the conclusion of this strategy cycle, our strategic priority has been to transform the JSE into an innovative, sustainable exchange for the future and a conduit for growth in South Africa’s financial markets
Leila Fourie, outgoing JSE Group CEO
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Market Position and Outlook
The JSE now has 265 listed companies with a total market capitalisation exceeding R25 trillion. The group is well-positioned to advance its strategic agenda under incoming Group CEO Valdene Reddy, who assumes the role next month.
The record results reflect disciplined execution, earnings diversification, and the enduring value of the exchange as a resilient, future-fit financial market infrastructure.
The combination of strong operational performance, technological advancement, and consistent shareholder returns reflects the JSE’s ability to deliver sustainable value in a dynamic market environment.
Future Outlook
The Johannesburg Stock Exchange delivered record earnings in FY2025 through broad-based revenue growth, margin expansion, operational excellence, and strategic progress under Strategy 2026.
Double-digit increases in NPAT, HEPS, and ROE, coupled with robust cash generation and a generous dividend payout, demonstrate the effectiveness of the group’s diversified model and disciplined execution.
As of March 3, 2026, these results affirm the JSE’s position as a resilient and forward-looking market infrastructure platform.
For the most current financial data, strategic updates, or investor materials, refer to official announcements from the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.
JSE Overview
Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) is Africa’s largest stock exchange, listing major South African and multinational firms.
JSE shares refer to stocks traded on the exchange, while JSE companies include businesses across sectors such as banking, mining, telecoms, and retail.
The JSE share price reflects the market value of a listed company’s stock at any given time. The JSE All Share price today tracks the performance of the FTSE/JSE All Share Index, which measures overall market activity.
The broader JSE index includes benchmarks like the All Share Index (ALSI) and Top 40 Index.
JSE login typically refers to broker or trading platform access used by investors to buy and sell shares. JSE Today Live indicates real-time market data showing current index levels and share prices during trading hours.
Ronnie Paul is a seasoned writer and analyst with a prolific portfolio of over 1,000 published articles, specialising in fintech, cryptocurrency, climate change, and digital finance at Africa Digest News.
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