I hope you have a strong cup of coffee in front of you. There's a lot to read and learn in InceConnect this morning.
The leading mining groups continue to move away from fossil fuels. In response to speculation in the press, BHP confirmed that it is considering a merger of its petroleum business with Woodside Petroleum. This would result in BHP shareholders receiving shares in Woodside Petroleum, which won't be met with adoration by ESG investors.
Still, it's another clear example of the pressure being put on these groups to tilt their portfolios.
Moving on to another JSE giant, we now have confirmation that Naspers holds 56.92% of the Prosus N shares and controls voting rights exceeding 72%. Tencent was down 3.5% in Hong Kong yesterday and Prosus was down over 5%, so that doesn't bode well for the dis count being closed. Naspers closed nearly 7.4% lower, so the good ol' pyramid problem is alive and well.
The lead story this morning is Sasol's results for the year ended June 2021. The company has achieved a remarkable recovery. Of course, the biggest question for investors is what the next 12 months might look like for Sasol's share price.
There were a lot of trading statements released yesterday. I've consolidated them into a single article, including references to 2019 comparable performance for each company (except the platinum miners because that comparison is pointless).
Absa has added its interim results to the banking mix, showing that it is back above 2019 levels. Strong cost control is a feature of the result, along with interesting growth in the global markets business which bucks the current trend in banking, as the comparable period was a huge base for banks to report against in that busi ness line.
Keep your finger on the pulse of important ESG trends by reading Cuma Dube's latest article. He writes on the important topic of carbon budgets.
For an international flavour, make the time to listen to the latest episode of Magic Markets. With co-host Mohammed Nalla, we discussed four US-listed stocks: Corsair, Callaway, McKesson and Moderna. It gives great insights into our individual investment processes and you can
listen to it here.
Have a terrific Tuesday!
The Finance Ghost
