The biggest news on the market yesterday was the joint announcement by Royal Bafokeng Platinum and Impala Platinum. Implats is looking to acquire 100% of RBP but no price has been given at this stage. A "reciprocal due diligence" is underway, which means they are taking a detailed look at each other's businesses. This makes me wonder if the potential offer will be for shares or for cash.
Critically, there is no firm offer at this stage. Nevertheless, RBP jumped over 20% and Implats fell 1.5%. It's not unusual to see the potential acquirer's share price drop on news of a deal.
Astral Foods released an update in mid-September that guided a drop in HEPS of not more than 25%. An updated trading statement has tightened the range to a drop of between 12% and 20%, so the drop is nasty but not as bad as was origina lly thought.
The board of Irongate Group (previously the Investec Australia property fund) has rejected a bid from 360 Capital in Australia for the "stapled securities" (a fancy Australian structure for shares) of AUD1.6047. Based on the freshly released valuations at 30 September, the net asset value is AUD1.61 per share.
The board is therefore indicating that the net asset value does not reflect the true value of the company. The distribution per security is only 0.14% higher year-on-year, so shareholders are being asked to be patient to see the true value come through.
In other property news, Stor-Age has completed a process to refinance its debt in the UK. An existing facility of GBP52 million has been increased to GBP96 million in a club facility with HSBC, Santander UK and institutional lender Aviva Investors. The pricing of the debt has improved and so as the tenure, with a weighted avera ge expiry of 5.5 years.
Novus Holdings reported an improved trading performance with the Print segment as a major contributor. Unfortunately, the loss of 50 jobs and a R65 million impairment can be directly linked to the alcohol ban, with the Gravure Labels division unable to operate sustainably. HEPS for the six months to September will be between 27.80 and 28.70 cents, a huge increase vs. 4.77 cents in the comparable period.
Tradehold has announced the sale of three properties tenanted by Nampak for a total consideration of R674 million. The proceeds will be used to reduce gearing and for offshore opportunities.
Santova released its interim results to further fanfare. HEPS more than doubled to 48.1 cents per share for the interim period, which makes the stock look like decent value at around R4.35 per share if those earnings can be maintained. Santova is up 13.5% in the past week.
I must end off with a note that my gold shares had a good day yesterday. There's perhaps light at the end of that tunnel for me!
Happy Thursday,
The Finance Ghost
