| It's not all doom and gloom in the construction sector, with activity starting to pick up and benefitting a select few firms that have positioned themselves to take advantage of any recovery. Raubex rallied yesterday after it confirmed it had won two big contracts to upgrade highways from roads agency SANRAL. And despite swinging to a big full-year loss, Wilson Bayly Holmes-Ovcon also rose after it said its order book had improved subsequent to the end of its financial year - although, granted, its shares fell sharply last month when a trading statement forecast the loss. While many companies expect Covid-19 to continue to impact their operations into next year, partly due to the ongoing cost of protecting staff and customers, barring any further extreme lockdown conditions they mostly expect an earnings recovery. Rhodes Food Group is one, after restrictions ate into sales last year. Super Group is another. Stor-Age, meanwhile, has emerged relatively unscathed due to continued demand for its self-storage facilities in SA and the UK. And asset manager Ninety One has also performed well despite nervous investors out there. It's declared an interim dividend following the release of its half-year results. More on all those stories in your newsletter today. Finally, if you missed the first podcast from The Finance Ghost, which delves into the mysteries of the rand, you can click here to listen to it now. I hope you have a good day. Stephen Gunnion Managing Editor, InceConnect
The latest from Ingham Analytics Prosus and Naspers report both report interim earnings on 23 November. Earnings in USD will be up 27% at the mid-point of the trading statement range. Ingham Analytics say that on the surface this seems a good result but that in fact it isn't and quantify why in"What a drag".They calculate that the loss from the rump, excluding Tencent, has increased by approximately 69%. The discounts to the see-through value of the interest in Tencent remain stubbornly high. Other recent notes include"Anti-Trusted"and"Did your seatbelts go to waste?" | 