With its share price down more than 25% this year, Barloworld has put out a statement on its Russian business, Vostochnaya Technica. This business contributed 20% of Barloworld's revenue from continuing operations in the year ended September 2021.
Barloworld doesn't have excess cash in Russia and has sufficient funding for the business. Customer payments don't go through banks currently barred from SWIFT. Customer contracts are executed with reference to USD and settled in the Ruble equivalent. There is obviously huge uncertainty here, which some may see as an opportunity. The share price is on a key support level, below which there is a long way down.
Impala Platinum released results for the six months ended December 2021. A decrease in production and significant increase in unit costs hurt the business in a period where the rand revenue per 6E ounce only increased by 2%. HEPS fell 9% to 1,690 cents and an interim dividend of 525 cents per share has been declared.
Standard Bank has released an updated trading statement for the year ended December 2021. HEPS is expected to be between 50% and 60% higher than the prior year, coming in at between 1,503.9 and 1,604.2 cents.
Wescoal's "disinterested members" of the board (because they have no personal interest in the decision, not because they are thinking about lunch instead) have appointed Robinson Ramaite as interim CEO of the company for a period of 2 years. Mr Ramaite is currently a non-executive director of the company. Wescoal is changing its name to Salungano Group and is aiming to transition from being a pure coal mining and trading company into being a diversified investment company.
MTN Ghana released results for the year ended December 2021, reflecting growth in mobile subscribers of 3.9% and data subscribers of 15.3%. EBITDA i ncreased by 33.7%, as MTN continues to perform well in the rest of Africa.
Construction group WBHO has released interim results covering the six months to December 2021. As announced in February, the company has suffered significant losses in Australia and won't be providing further support to that business, which will be put into administration. The local business maintained activity levels and the UK struggled with low business confidence. The group has swung from HEPS of 81 cents in the prior period to a headline loss per share of 1,613 cents. Unsurprisingly, no interim dividend has been declared.
Aspen has completed the sale of a portfolio of six products to Acino Pharma AG, a Swiss company. The deal value was R1.8 billion plus the cost of related inventory. Aspen will be pleased to see that number land in the bank account.
Tharisa continues to drive its ESG initiatives around energy efficiency in its operations. The latest news is that Tharisa is testing three Liebherr mining machines with more efficient engines and fuel systems. The company has committed to reducing its carbon footprint by 30% by 2030.
The Takeover Special Committee received notice in January 2022 of an intention by a consortium to seek a review of the Takeover Regulation Panel (TRP) ruling granting an exemption from a mandatory offer to be made to Tongaat Hulett shareholders. A final decision is expected to be made on 8th March.
Fortress REIT has lowered its distributable earnings guidance for the year ending 30 June 2022 from R1.78 billion to R1.7 billion, reflecting the lower-than-expected dividend declared by NEPI Rockcastle. The distributable earnings are expected to be below the dividend benchmark for the Fortress A shares.
Stefanutti Stocks reached agreement with its lenders to extend the cap ital repayments profile and duration of the loan to 28 February 2023.
UBS South Africa is no longer offering sponsor services (advising companies on JSE regulations and ensuring ongoing compliance with listings requirements), leading to a change of sponsor for several companies on the JSE including Vodacom, South32, Sappi, Nampak, Lewis Group, PSG, PSG Konsult, Stadio, Curro and Zeder.
Also be sure to check out a fascinating article from
OrbVest on
medical real estate assets in the US. Alternative assets can be a handy addition to any portfolio, as they have low correlation with most listed equities.
Good luck out there today!
The Finance Ghost
