Discovery First-Half Profit Jumps to Record, Raises Dividend

Discovery Ltd. posted record first-half earnings as South Africa’s largest health-insurance administrator benefited from years of strategic investment and a swing to profit at its banking division.

Normalized headline earnings jumped 27% to 5.75 billion rand ($356 million) in the six months through December, compared with 4.5 billion rand a year earlier, the Johannesburg-based company said in a statement on Tuesday. Net income climbed 29% to 5.72 billion rand.