| Investors managed to find the good news amongst the bad yesterday - much of which had already been telegraphed to the market. While many of the weak results and trading statements came as no surprise, signs of a recovery from a disastrous June quarter helped propel share prices higher. AVI Limited, which owns a range of household favourites like Five Roses, House of Coffees and Bakers biscuits, says it was cushioned by demand for its snacks and drinks during the lockdown as sales of shoes, clothing and personal care items came under pressure. While sales are expected to improve, it believes the environment will remain constrained for now. Still, it's paid a final dividend thanks to healthy cash generation. Metrofile also appears to have done better than expected given the response to a trading statement from the documents storage group. And its proposed takeover by a private equity consortium is still on the cards once international travel restrictions are lifted and the executives of Housatonic can get here to conduct a due diligence investigation. Capitec's shares were also up yesterday despite the bank warning of much lower earnings due to Covid-19. More on those stories to follow, along with revised terms for Brait's sale of its stake in UK food retailer Iceland and the heavy toll that Covid-19 has taken on Bell Equipment. Finally, if you're a fan of exchange traded funds (ETFs), which give investors the ability to cheaply diversify their portfolios, Rand Swiss may have something even better to offer - including the safety of downside protection. Find out more about Retailed Structured Products here. I hope you have a good day. Stephen Gunnion Managing Editor, InceConnect
The latest from Ingham Analytics Yesterday, Capitec issued a trading statement. Ingham Analytics have handily issued a Searchlight entitled "Looking for dips" that coincides with the statement for the six months ended August 2020. The previous two notes on Capitec that proved popular downloads were "Tito's shocker less of a shocker for Capitec" (dated 25 June) and "Rating retreat" (8 July). In that last note they advised that for those interested in having a stake in the banking sector Capitec is the one to consider. Whilst earnings will be down for the year ended February 2021 for Ingham Analytics the big question is what about the year after? Is there the possibility of a large recovery? What about the state of the balance sheet at a time when provisions for bad debts have risen sharply? Is the stock still a buy? What rating is it now on? On the topic of banking "Skin on the bones" and "Powell-ing along" are recent notes to consider. | 