Last week I wrote about
Afristrat, the embattled remnants of Ecsponent. In a regulatory requirement linked to a transaction to try and save the company, BDO had to give an independent expert opinion and
concluded that the ordinary shares have no value. Afristrat has now released its interim results for the six months ended September and the destruction is clear to see. Net interest income was a paltry R3 million and credit impairments were R67.4 million, so the company spectacularly lost R64.4 million just on its lending book. Net of private equity revaluations and other operating expenses, the loss for the period was R123 million. The company has R1 million in cash, R6.7 million in receivables and R 63 million in payables, so you can do the maths on its future.
If you're looking for a solid case study on s164 appraisal rights, then Ascendis is where you'll find it. Some shareholders who exercised their rights (and followed the key procedural steps) in relation to the recent corporate actions have been rewarded with a payout of R1.19 per share, a significant premium to the current share price of R0.82. This price is arrived at by negotiation between the parties. If they can't agree, it becomes an expensive process in the courts for everyone involved.
African Equity Empowerment Investments (AEEI) has been trading under cautionary while it was negotiating a proposed B-BBEE transaction at Premier Fishing SA, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Premier Fishing and Brands. The cautionary has been lifted as negotiations have been terminated due to "complexities regarding the implementation" of such a deal.
Sebata Holdings released a trading statement noting that the interim headline loss per share has increased drastically. It's more than 10 times worse than the comparable period! The share price closed 10.8% higher nonetheless, with some in the market taking a speculative punt on this company based on its balance sheet rather than its earnings.
Vivo Energy has released its circular for the cash offer and delisting of the company. If you are a shareholder in Vivo, it's very important that you familiarise yourself with the contents. It's not the easiest document to find, so I've
included the link here.
Another critical document is EPP's delisting circular related to the Redefine offer. This is the deal that has seen Redefine spend a lot of time driving a narrative around how awful EPP is, as a precursor to offering to buy the company. If you are an EPP shareholder (or Redefine shareholder for that matter), make sure you give it a proper look.
In other property news, Texton jumped 9.7% on the news that it has sold Wale Street Chambers, Foretrust Property and Loop Street Properties. This is a major transaction as these properties represent a combined 19% of the South African portfolio's value. In each case, the price is above the book value as at 30 June 2021, which is why the share price increased.
Industrial REIT shareholders should note that they need to choose between a cash dividend and a scrip dividend i.e. receiving more shares instead of cash.
In case you're trying to keep track of the Royal Bafokeng share register, the company has announced that Impala Platinum holds 35.23% of the shares and the PIC has decreased to 9.692%.
Barloworld has decided to delist from the Namibian Stock Exchange based on a cost-benefit analysis. This will leave the JSE listing as Barloworld's only listing.
Have a wonderful day!
The Finance Ghost
