In my next life (do ghosts even have an afterlife?), I'm coming back with the easy job of writing MTN's SENS announcements. When the subsidiary in Rwanda releases results, MTN doesn't even bother to give us the highlights. Instead, there's a generic link in a boring SENS announcement to send us off on a treasure hunt.
This is especially frustrating when you realise that there really is treasure here. MTN Rwandacell grew subscribers by 9% and active data users by 23.8%. EBITDA is up 21.3% with a beautiful EBITDA margin of 50.3%. If those were my numbers, I would take the time to tell the market about them!
I was surprised to see that the share price only closed 0.66% higher yesterday. After the good news about the credit upgrade, I anticipated share price action.
AngloGold Ashanti ha s continued its run of bad luck in its operations. Columbia's environmental regulator ANLA has published a decision to "archive" the environmental permit application for the Quebradona project, a copper-gold project that received considerable support from government and the local communities in the region.
This decision means that the regulator requires additional information before making a decision to confirm or deny the application. There's nothing conclusive at this stage, other than a delay to the approval process.
Spear, the Cape Town-focused REIT on the JSE, released interim results for the six months to August 2021. Distributable income per share is up 6.03% and the distribution per share is up 12.68% to 33.06 cents per share, as the distribution payout ratio has been increased to 85%.
Critically, reversions (the pricing for lease renewals vs. the previous lease) in most of the portfolio were o nly -5.78%, which is much better than many of the other REITs. The new 15 on Orange hotel lease was signed at a positive reversion of 22.11%! The loan-to-value ratio is still on the high side at 45.91% but the market cheered the result regardless, sending the share price up 4%.
In a case of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Returns, Tiger Brands disappointed investors again. This time, it was with a trading statement reflecting HEPS from continuing operations down between 5% and 15% for the year ended September 2021. The company blames civil unrest and the canned vegetable recall. The recall cost them R647 million and the unrest only R100 million, so the issue that was in their control is the one that hurt the most.
Nvest Financial Holdings released a trading statement noting that HEPS for the six months to August 2021 will decrease by 29.2% to 9.56 cents. No explanation has been provided at this stage, so shareholders must wait until 2nd November when results are released to find out more.
One of today's feature articles is on
Sibanye, probably my favourite resources company. The group has
confirmed its deal in Brazil as part of its battery metals strategy.
Good luck in the markets today!
The Finance Ghost
