KEY POINTS
- Adrian Gore sells $3 million Discovery stock while securing long-term hedge.
- Gore uses collar strategy to manage risk and protect his stake.
- Discovery reports $545 million profit and distributes strong dividends.
Discovery Limited founder Adrian Gore, who rarely sells shares, executed a R50.3 million ($3 million) sale of Discovery stock in early December, months after offloading R100 million ($5.3 million) earlier in 2025.
The moves, spread over two transactions, appear linked to a hedge covering part of his holdings, though Gore did not disclose specific reasons.
Gore manages risk with long-term hedge
The most recent deals included 1.6 million shares, and the hedge will be in place until December 2031. Gore seems to be focused on controlling risk and protecting against market fluctuations while keeping a large interest in Discovery, which is worth more than $590 million. The transactions show that he is rolling over his original hedges, which have now expired.
Gore uses a collar approach, which limits losses and caps gains by using both put and call options. These arrangements support funding commitments linked to rights offers and share subscriptions. The put options let Gore sell shares at a defined price if the market value drops below a certain level.
Discovery posts strong profits and dividends
Founded in 1992 as a medical insurer, Discovery has grown into one of South Africa’s most diversified financial services groups. As of June 28, Gore held a 6.71 percent stake. He also earned R91.65 million ($5.3 million) in dividends, reflecting the company’s strong payout, which included a final dividend of R1.37 billion ($77.93 million) for the fiscal year ending June 2025.
According to Billionaires Africa, Discovery made $545 million in profit for the whole year, which is a 27 percent increase from the year before. This was due to growth in its health, life, and Vitality segments. Normalized operating profit climbed 20 percent to R15.21 billion ($867.6 million), while headline earnings increased 30 percent to R9.63 billion ($549.1 million).
Earnings per share rose 26 percent to 1,402 cents. Net assets grew 21 percent to R65.7 billion ($3.75 billion), with total assets reaching R327.45 billion ($18.67 billion). Shares on the JSE gained more than 18 percent, pushing Discovery’s market cap above $9.8 billion.
