JSE has significantly increased its investment in software as it aims to create a pan-African digital market by 2031. Over the last six months, ending in June, the exchange spent R75.5 million on intangible assets, which is three times the R24.4 million spent in the same period last year. The significant rise in expenditure occurred in the second half of 2025, when spending on this item reached approximately R80 million, and the pace has remained similar since then.
Total capital expenditure has grown more than fourfold, reaching R110 million compared to R27 million, while management maintains a full-year forecast in the range of R190 to R230 million. As of June 30, 2026, the accumulated value of software that the exchange capitalized but has not yet put into operation amounted to R186 million, up from R143 million in December and R89 million a year earlier.
The projects behind this amount, disclosed in the notes to the interim results, include the modernization of the Broker-Dealer Accounting System (BDA), which JSE calls the Sens strategy, the central counterparty system for bonds, and automation projects named Pentagon and Webstir. Technology costs rose by 4.6% to R246 million, accounting for over a third of all group expenses not related to personnel. The exchange attributed this to cloud migration, hosting, infrastructure upgrades, and technology support.
Forge Strategy 2031
The exchange is migrating the BDA system from an outdated mainframe in collaboration with Amazon Web Services. This work also covers delivering market data based on cloud technologies and low-latency edge access services. These expenditures are an integral part of the Forge 2031 strategy, being implemented by Group CEO Walden Reddy under the 'Transform and Grow' pillars. The goal is to position JSE as a leading provider of technology-based market infrastructure for South Africa and broader African capital markets.
Walden Reddy, who took office after Leila Fury on April 1, told Business Day that the exchange 'has set the ambition to create a digital market by 2031.' He clarified that this goes beyond cryptocurrency trading and includes the tokenization and digitization of settlement processes. The plan is to first build these services for South Africa and then roll them out across the continent. Furthermore, the exchange stated that initiatives in artificial intelligence, early automation, and other areas are being implemented to enhance productivity, scalability, and decision-making quality. Priorities for the remainder of the year include maintaining financial discipline while simultaneously investing in future opportunities in technology, data, and AI.
Attempts to digitize private markets
JSE previously attempted to digitize private markets. In November 2020, the exchange announced a deal with UK fintech company Globacap Technology to promote a platform and registry services for digital placement. Globacap, regulated by the UK Financial Conduct Authority, used distributed ledger technology to issue and administer private securities and offered the tokenization of registered securities as a core function.
In 2021, JSE invested £4 million in Globacap, and in 2022, another £0.5 million. However, in the previous financial year, the exchange wrote off this investment to zero, citing cash flow constraints and regulatory issues affecting Globacap's ability to sustain operations and generate future economic benefits. In the interim results presented on Tuesday, the exchange reported that no new information had emerged to revise this valuation, and the assets remain on the books at zero value as the company liquidation has not been finalized. The Globacap technology platform was separately acquired by Apex Group.
The platform resulting from these investments continues to operate. JSE's fees for private deal placements over the six months leading up to June were R50,000, compared to R66,000 the previous year and R327,000 for the full year 2025. Stock market fees for the same six-month period reached R368 million. It should be noted that JSE acted as a minority investor in Globacap, not an operator, and the private market infrastructure has substantially changed since 2020. The interim results do not establish a link between this investment and the digital market planned for 2031.
Meanwhile, JSE's overall financial performance for the reporting period was strong: operating income grew by 14.6% to R1.96 billion, net profit after tax by 16.9% to R652 million, and earnings per share increased by 18.8% to 816.2 cents. The operating margin, calculated on an EBITDA basis, improved by one percentage point to 43.1%.
Priorities
Total expenses increased by 11.5% to R1.21 billion, including one-off charges of R44.5 million related to a voluntary separation process within the reorganization. This raised the annual operating expense target to a range of 6% to 8%, compared to the initial forecast of 5–7%. Excluding the reorganization, CEO departure, and trading-related costs, JSE identified a growth in base costs of 3.5%.
Regarding infrastructure, JSE reported market availability at 99.99% without any downtime, completed the market transition from Jibar to Zaronia, and expanded colocation capacity—a business whose fees grew by 24.6% to R32 million. The exchange notes that this business supports the growing share of trading in the stock market.
Priorities for the second half of the year include working on the Bond CCP system, replacing Sens, continuing the BDA modernization, and replacing MIT equipment. Cash and bonds totaled R2.6 billion. The dividend policy remains unchanged: the payout ratio is between 67% and 100% of profit.
