There simply isn't enough space in InceConnect for everything that happened on the JSE yesterday!
MTN Ghana continued a strong run of form for MTN's African investments. Service revenue is up 25.4% year-on-year for the first nine months of the financial year, driven strongly by data revenue with a 51.9% increase.
Sibanye has completed a USD70 million strategic investment for a 7.12% stake in ioneer Limited, its joint venture partner on the Rhyolite Ridge Lithium Boron Project. The company also released an operating update for the period ended September 2021. Adjusted EBITDA came in at R14.9 billion, significantly down from the cash bonanza in the last quarter (R20.7 billion) and 4.6% down year-on-year. Notably, all-in sustaining cost in the local PGM operations fell 4% year-on-year.
AB InBev has reported third quarter results and the market liked them, sending the share price up 12.7% on the day. For the nine-month period, beer volumes were up 12.1% and non-beer volumes 10.7%, driving 14.5% growth in normalised EBITDA.
Datatec also had a good day on the market, up 4.9% after releasing interim results for the six months to August. Revenue is up 15% and EBITDA up 24%, translating into a great HEPS result up 294%. There's a fat special dividend of R5.12 cents per share on a share price of R41, with a scrip distribution alternative.
African Rainbow Minerals has announced that it is in discussions for the potential acquisition of the Bokoni Platinum Mine from Anglo American Platinum and Atlatsa Resources Corporation.
Nu-World Holdings, a value investor favourite with a market cap of around R715 million, announced HEPS growth of just 2.4% but dividend growth of 27.4%. Thi s sent the share price up 9.4%.
Murray & Roberts has won another R1.6 billion in work in its Australian business Clough. This is excellent news for the group's Energy, Resources and Infrastructure Platform. The share rallied 5.3%.
Long4Life's discussions regarding an unsolicited expression of interest to buy the company are "progressing" - that news was enough for a 4.6% increase in the share price.
Steinhoff jumped 10.4% on the news that the company has been granted leave to appeal the jurisdictional issue regarding the liquidation application in the Cape Town High Court. You can expect plenty more volatility in this share.
Shareholder activism is still underway at Ascendis, with an announcement confirming an investor voting pool of 30% has now been achieved, spearheaded by Harry Smit.
Bytes Technology Group (the UK business spun out of Altron) has achieved HEPS growth of 13.9% in the six months to August 2021.
For the year to June 2021, EOH has reported an improvement in the headline loss to 22 cents from 534 cents last year. Revenue is under pressure though, with the concern being that supply chain issues aren't even blamed for this (I suspect this issue will come through in the next interim period).
Have a lovely weekend!
The Finance Ghost
