Nueva Inversions Pacifico Sur (IPS) has clearly seen an opportunity following the decline in Sun International's share price over the past year. Instead of paying roughly R1.5 billion for an additional 15% stake in Sun Dreams, Sun's Latin American subsidiary, it now wants - rather opportunistically, in my view - to pay the same for control of Sun International itself.

The local hotel and casino operator says it is holding IPS to its commitment to take up the Sun Dreams stake and has declared a dispute with the Paris-based International Chamber of Commerce, with the arbitration due to be heard next year. When the deal was struck in April last year, Sun International's shares were trading above R50, roughly three times higher than their current level. As a result of the deal not concluding, the group entered the Covid-19 crisis with debt significantly higher than it would otherwise have been.

Another company entering the pandemic with a debt problem is now entering administration, having suspended trading in its shares on the London and Johannesburg stock exchanges on Friday. intu Properties, formerly Capital Shopping Centres, has its roots in Liberty International, the company formed by Liberty Life founder, the late Sir Donald Gordon. While there are now number of offshore retail property investments listed on the JSE, this was the first. Sadly, debt negotiations with its lenders failed to come up with a solution in time for a crucial deadline on Friday.

Read on for more on those stories, as well as annual results from Hulamin, an update from KAP Industrial and why the JSE's upcoming financial results will benefit from Covid-19.

In The Week Ahead, Chris Gilmour reviews some of the economic news that contributed to last week's movement on global markets, including US employment data and Finance Minister Tito Mboweni's supplementary budget, and looks ahead to what could influence the markets this week. First-quarter growth numbers are due out tomorrow, while Wednesday sees the release of manufacturing and vehicle sales numbers for June.

I hope you have a good week.

Stephen Gunnion

Managing Editor, InceConnect

The latest from Ingham Analytics

Ingham Analytics latest note entitled "Tito's shocker less of a shocker for Capitec" explains why they think Capitec stands out from the big four banks in the context of Finance Minister Tito Mboweni's supplementary budget. This may, as they say, seem a counter intuitive view, not least because of their long-standing bearishness to banks as an asset class. However, there are differentiators that make Capitec atypical. Ingham Analytics will be issuing more detailed analysis on this popular South African success story in due course but in the meantime there are some pointers to consider as an investor.

Ahead of the supplementary budget last week, Ingham Analytics issued "BA900 isn't a British Airways service to Jo'burg". They say referencing an airline, all of which have been having turbulence, is perhaps an appropriate analogy. The newest data on the institutional and maturity breakdown of liabilities and assets in banking continues to throw up warnings signals and shareholders had better continue assuming the brace position.