Group CEO Adrian Gore breaks down the numbers behind Discovery’s strongest year yet, and the strategic bets driving what comes next.
Katlego Sekhu
Discovery has delivered one of its strongest sets of annual results yet, for the year ended 30 June 2026. Headline earnings are up 34%, return on equity has improved to 16.5%, and Discovery Bank has swung from a R68 million loss to a R370 million profit.
Kaya BIZ with Gugulethu Mfuphi spoke to Adrian Gore, Group Chief Executive at Discovery, to find out what’s driving the momentum, and where the Group goes from here.
Gore describes the year as formative, not just for the numbers, but for how the vitality shared value model has taken shape across the business. Nowhere is that clearer than in the bank’s next move.
Discovery Bank’s Next Act: Becoming a “Super Bank”
Discovery Bank now serves more than 1.5 million customers and is on target for a R3 billion profit by 2029. Gore says the bank has reached the end of its first phase, and the next one is more ambitious.
“We’re going to provide on the face of the bank all of our products, all the value, all the Vitality shared value structures, into one form,” Gore says. “All the ecosystems, fitness, health, travel, all of that is on the face of the bank.”
The scale of the opportunity is significant. Around 1,500 people join Discovery Bank every day, and 70% of them, roughly 1,000 people daily, are not existing Discovery clients. On competition from new entrants and shifting payment regulation, Gore is unmoved.
“I think the value proposition of Discovery Bank is different and unique, and I think it will accelerate,” he says. “We’re used to competitive forces. We keep our head down, focus on the business model, and continue to grow.”
The $300 Million Bet on Vitality AI
Vitality’s model has always been simple: do healthy things, get incentivised. Personalising that at scale is not.
“That requires complex data and AI,” Gore says. Discovery has partnered with Google to build Vitality AI, launching a version in London last year and now rolling it out in New York. The Group has invested over $300 million in the platform this year.
The early returns are already visible. “One of the features of this particular year has been over $2 billion across the businesses of claims savings, of people exhibiting lower mortality, lower sickness levels,” Gore says.
That same global ambition extends to Discovery’s US business, which now covers over 18 million lives and is expected to generate more than $100 million in revenue this year, built on a data set Gore describes as unique globally.
Whatever changes across markets, currencies, or election cycles, Gore’s underlying thesis holds: behavioural data lowers risk, and lower risk drives growth. This is not just a banking story. It is a data story.
To hear the full interview with Adrian Gore on Kaya BIZ, listen to the podcast.
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