International operations at Discovery showed stronger momentum in the six months to 31 December 2025, with the group’s Vitality global composite increasing normalised operating profit by 41% to R2.12 billion.
The improvement reflected a recovery in the United Kingdom, continued expansion in China, and the early rollout of a new artificial-intelligence platform designed to enhance the Vitality health-engagement model.
Group chief executive Adrian Gore (pictured) said the group reorganised its international businesses during the past year to accelerate the global rollout of the Vitality platform.
The strategy focuses on strengthening the UK business, expanding international partnerships, and deploying new AI capabilities across the Vitality ecosystem.
Outside China, Vitality programmes now cover about 11.2 million members globally. In China, Discovery’s partner Ping An Health Insurance serves more than 34 million health-insurance members through its own distribution channels.
Vitality AI positioned as a key part of the platform strategy
A central development during the period was the launch of Vitality AI, a platform developed in partnership with Google Cloud.
According to Discovery, the platform integrates Google Cloud’s Vertex AI infrastructure and Gemini models with Vitality’s behavioural and clinical datasets to generate personalised health insights and recommendations for members.
The system draws on a dataset built over more than three decades and covering roughly 60 million life-years of health and behavioural information.
Using this data, the platform identifies individual health risks and produces recommendations related to areas such as exercise, sleep, preventative screening, and disease management. These recommendations are integrated into the Vitality programme’s incentive structures.
The platform architecture combines several layers, including data integration, risk modelling, AI-driven recommendations, and engagement tools that connect to insurance pricing and underwriting systems.
Discovery says the platform is designed to optimise both the potential health value of an activity and the likelihood that a member will follow through with it.
The system is also intended to integrate with a broader ecosystem of partners, including device providers such as Apple and Garmin, fitness platforms, lifestyle partners, and healthcare providers. Data from these sources can feed directly into the Vitality system to refine recommendations and engagement strategies.
During the interim results presentation, management said the platform is moving from development into deployment across Discovery’s own businesses and partner network.
UK operations show marked improvement
Discovery’s UK operations delivered a notable improvement in performance during the period.
VitalityHealth’s operating profit rose 98% to £50.9 million (R1.19bn), supported by pricing adjustments and improved claims management. Insurance revenue increased 15% to R10.5bn, while new business volumes grew 9% to R1.44bn.
Demand for private healthcare cover has increased as the UK’s National Health Service continues to experience capacity constraints. Discovery’s engagement-based pricing model also enables the insurer to differentiate premiums according to behavioural engagement and risk indicators.
The UK life business also reported solid growth. VitalityLife increased operating profit by 8% to R352m, while new business annual premium income rose 36% to R1.5bn and new business value increased 43%.
Gore said distribution has expanded significantly, with the number of advisers writing Vitality Life policies increasing by roughly 50%, lifting the company’s market share to close to 15%.
China partnership continues to expand
Discovery’s Chinese joint venture with Ping An Health Insurance remains another major contributor to the group’s international results.
Discovery’s share of Ping An Health Insurance’s after-tax operating profit increased 35% to R573m during the period.
The insurer’s directly insured membership base expanded 17% to more than 34 million lives, supported by digital distribution and product development.
Although regulatory changes required adjustments to some distribution channels, Discovery expects Ping An’s expanding multi-channel distribution model to offset these changes over time.
Building a presence in the United States
Another component of Discovery’s international strategy is its developing presence in the United States.
The group operates primarily through Vitality Health International and Vitality Health USA, which provide digital engagement tools and wellness programmes to partner health insurers rather than underwriting insurance policies directly.
Gore said Discovery has accelerated its expansion in the US over the past 18 months as it seeks to deploy the Vitality platform and associated AI capabilities in the market.
A key step was the acquisition of WellSpark, a personalised health-coaching platform that is being integrated into the Vitality ecosystem. The technology combines behavioural data, AI-driven recommendations, and coaching to support preventative care and health-engagement programmes.
Discovery is also working with US health insurers to provide engagement tools that help guide members through preventative care, wellness programmes, and healthcare navigation.
Membership in the US platform has grown to about 2.4 million people through partnerships with large health plans and employers.
Although the segment remains relatively small financially and recorded a modest loss during the period, Discovery expects the business to move towards profitability as scale increases. Management indicated that operational profitability could be reached around 2027 if adoption by health plans continues.
Expanding the partnership model
Discovery is also extending its international footprint through partnerships with insurers that license the Vitality platform.
The Vitality Network generated US$1.03bn in integrated new business through partner insurers during the period, while membership grew 11% to 6.9 million lives.
Foreign-exchange movements linked to the Japanese yen affected reported profits in the segment, but the group said it remains focused on expanding the partnership model.
Discovery continues to work with insurers including Sumitomo Life in Japan and John Hancock in the US while pursuing additional partnerships in Europe and North America.
Why global scale does not yet translate into equivalent profits
Despite the scale of its international reach, Discovery’s global operations contribute a smaller share of group earnings than its South African businesses.
Discovery South Africa remains the group’s primary profit engine because it operates the full insurance value chain, underwriting risk, administering policies, and collecting premiums across its health, life, investment, and banking businesses.
Internationally, Discovery has generally adopted a partnership model.
Under this approach, the group provides the Vitality platform, behavioural science expertise, analytics and engagement tools, while local insurers write the policies, assume underwriting risk and collect most of the premiums.
Discovery earns revenue through licensing fees, participation in premiums or equity stakes in partner businesses.
The Ping An Health Insurance joint venture illustrates this structure: although the insurer covers more than 34 million members, Discovery recognises only its share of profits rather than the full insurance revenue.
A similar structure applies to Vitality partnerships with insurers such as Sumitomo Life, John Hancock, and AIA.
The approach allows Discovery to expand internationally without committing the capital required to build full insurance operations in every market.
A platform aimed at long-term global growth
Although Discovery South Africa still generates the majority of the group’s earnings, the recent performance of its international businesses suggests the company’s long-term growth strategy is increasingly global.
By combining behavioural science, insurance pricing and digital engagement tools with a capital-light partnership model, Discovery is exporting the Vitality system into multiple markets.
Management argues that the model’s economics depend heavily on sustained engagement by members, which can influence both health outcomes and insurance performance.
As the Vitality platform expands internationally, the contribution of the group’s global businesses is expected to increase gradually alongside its established South African operations.
