Purple Group headed for amazing half-year results

Veronique van Rensburg is a long-time friend of CN&CO, having connected with Rikus years ago in the arts world. During the Covid era, she joined EasyEquities and has gone from strength to strength, now leading the charge as head of education.

Veronique sent us this blog, which outlines the spectacular performance of Purple Group, the holding company of EasyEquities, in its half-year results effective 28 February 2025. Spoiler alert – they’re amazing! As is Veronique’s story of stratospheric ascension in the world of fintech…

From Clueless to confident: A little AI. A little curiosity. A whole new lens on learning.

By Veronique van Rensburg

So… I have a confession: when I first joined Purple Group back in 2020, I didn’t know my HEPS from my elbow. Seriously. I thought “Corporate Actions” was the name of a dystopian Netflix series.

Fast forward to today, and I’m poring over our latest trading statement with actual excitement – not because I had insider access (spoiler: I don’t), but because even as a Purple Group employee, I experience the build-up just like everyone else, through the little drips of information released to the public. And this time, those drips were juicy enough that I found myself spotting opportunities in the numbers. Who am I even?!

If we’re being honest, I’m sure that for most people, company results land somewhere between “mildly intimidating” and “background noise.” Charts, cents per share, earnings this and that… not exactly edge-of-your-seat stuff.

But what if I told you they’re actually full of clues – like breadcrumbs hinting at where a company’s been and where it might be headed? That’s when things get interesting. That’s where the magic happens.

So, let me walk you through the latest chapter in Purple Group’s story – not based on secret backroom intel, but using the same publicly available clues anyone can access. Because even though the full results aren’t out yet, what has surfaced is already telling – and I couldn’t help but lean in to see if I could make heads or tails of it.

Want to know the wild part? I did it with a bit of help from AI. Yep, I used a tool called Grok – partly because it’s built into X (formerly Twitter), which I’m already scrolling through for insights anyway, and partly because I was curious to see if AI could help me make sense of what I was reading.

Here’s how I went from financial fog to fiscal fireworks.

The Glow-Up: Trading Statement Time!

Cut to April 4, 2025. Our latest trading statement drops. And get this: earnings for H1 2025 are up 194% to 213% compared to the same time last year 😳.

For those just starting out (and I see you), that means our headline earnings per share (HEPS) – think of it as profit-per-share – jumped from about 0.77 cents to between 2.29 and 2.44 cents. Translation? We’re making a lot more money per share than we were a year ago. And that’s huge.

But here’s where things got fun: instead of just reading it and nodding (with my very basic level of understanding), I turned to Grok (the AI sidekick from xAI) to break it all down with me. And let me tell you… it was like having a financial bestie next to me who never got tired of my questions!

What I Learned

Here are a few standout findings that made my little investor heart do a happy dance:

72,860 new active clients in just six months. That’s 430 new folks signing up daily. We’ve crossed the 1 million active client mark, and each of those new clients contributes to platform activity (aka revenue).

February 2025 broke deposit records – R1.4 billion landed on the platform. One. Point. Four. Billion. In a single month.

Crypto is on fire right now. Bitcoin is up 50% since Feb 2024, we’ve got 77 crypto assets and 4 bundles on EasyCrypto, and assets under management (AUM) may have doubled since last year. (Yes, doubled.)

New products are certainly pulling their weight. From EasyTrader and EasyETFs (which already manage over R500 million!) to EasyMortgages and EasyProtect (our life insurance offering), we’re building a beast of a fintech empire.

This is sounding like momentum, and I’m here for it!

But… What About Our Share Price?

Okay, this bit used to confuse me, but Grok certainly helped me demystify it.

An analyst I follow on X, Simon Brown, reckons our full-year HEPS could hit around 4.6 cents. At our current PE ratio of 23x (that’s how much investors are willing to pay for R1 of earnings), it’s actually in line with a fast-growing company like us.

Some folks think our share price could hit 135 cents by December – that’s up 35% from now. And while the market might be a bit jittery lately (hello JSE dipping 1.3% on April 4), strong fundamentals tend to shine through over time.

Why This Feels Personal

What I love about being part of Purple Group is that we don’t just publish results for analysts – we purposefully design them to be readable. Understandable. Learnable.

They’re beautiful documents, honestly. And when you combine what’s found inside with a bit of AI help, suddenly you’re not just reading the numbers… you’re understanding what they mean. And you start to feel empowered to possibly make some moves of your own.

So, What Can You Do With All This?

If you’re just starting out, or even if you’ve been with us a while but haven’t really peeked behind the curtain yet, now’s a great time to lean in:

Learn as you go: Use our Academy, Invest In Yourself podcast, and even blog posts like this one (hi 👋) to deepen your understanding. If you’re even more curious about a company’s results and what they tell you, we’ve got an in-depth course on that in EasyAcademy too. Because once you know what to look for, it stops being boring and starts becoming strategic.

Try out AI: If Grok isn’t your vibe, that’s fine. But don’t be afraid to ask questions about the numbers – from Google, ChatGPT, YouTube… or even me.

🗓️ Join the party: April 9 is when Purple Group’s official results drop. Keep an eye out – we’ll make it worth your while!

Wrapping It All Up

This post might’ve been inspired by my exchange with Grok, but it’s really about growth.

From clueless in 2020 to cautiously confident in 2025, it’s proof that you don’t need a finance degree to start decoding the world of investing. You just need the right tools, a bit of curiosity, and the courage to start.

So here’s your nudge: dig into our EasyAcademy course on results. Ask the questions that feel “silly”. Play with the numbers. Fire up AI and see what you can find.

On this journey, you don’t need anyone’s permission to start – you just need to be curious enough to keep going.