The short week was another crummy experience for gold counters on the JSE, with a particularly poor finish on Thursday. Gold Fields, arguably the pick of the litter among JSE-listed gold miners currently, is down 5.2% over 7 days and 12.5% over 30 days. The gold price in ZAR is down around 8.5% year-to-date but Gold Fields is down 20% over that period and Anglogold is the real shocker, down nearly 40%.
Sibanye-Stillwater might be PGM-focused, but Neal Froneman's iconic group has made significant investments in "green metals" used in batteries as well. The group's investor day last week was literally a wealth of information about PGMs and mining in general. I wrote a feature article with some of the highlights, but I really recommend reading the detailed presentations if you are interested in the industry.
Grindrod is on a mission to dispose of non-core assets and has benefitted from an eye-watering run in the Grindrod Shipping share price. Grindrod has now disposed of its entire 9.6% stake in Grindrod Shipping through a public offering, executed at a 14% discount to the market price and raising over R368m in the process. Grindrod closed 6% higher and Grindrod Shipping closed 8.8% lower.
In pharmacy sector news, Dis-Chem has finally received approval from the Competition Tribunal for its acquisition of the Medicare chain for R250m. The pharmacy market is far more fragmented than most people realise, with considerable room for further consolidation in my view. Clicks CEO Vikesh Ramsunder won't get to find out, as he is leaving Clicks with a "heavy heart" and a heavier bank balance in a decision to emigrate to Australia. Bertina Engelbrecht will take the top job at Clicks, in an internal appointment that sends an encouraging mes sage about the depth of talent in the group.
Steinhoff is up 60% in the past 90 days and released yet another SENS about its Dutch court proceedings, which have been a success for the group. The major risk is still the liquidation hearing in the Western Cape High Court.
Investec released a pre-close update for the interim period, with commentary on the five months to August 2021. HEPS is expected to be 120% to 147% higher than the comparable period, with the UK business showing an even stronger recovery than South Africa.
MultiChoice Group announced that French media company Groupe Canal+ SA has increased its interest to 15.37% of the group. Naturally, the possibility of a future takeout offer is top-of-mind for investors in the DSTV operator.
Today's other feature article is on Transaction Capital, which has given a detailed pre-close update on the perform ance of its businesses. Regular readers will know how much I like this company.
As is usual on a Monday, the latest
Magic Markets episode is included for your listening pleasure. In the third episode of #HerenyaSeptember, Petri Redelinghuys of
Herenya Capital Advisors joins us to respond to the second batch of listener questions. It's a frank and enjoyable discussion about life as a professional trader.
Chris Gilmour also gives us the customary update on the macroeconomic and political factors impacting global markets.
Good luck in the markets this week!
The Finance Ghost
