REFLECTING CAUTION
By Andrew McNulty
Interested in small financial services stocks? The asset managers seem to be the best place to start looking. Their earnings growth and returns have held up better than most others in this sector, margins are high and there could s...
A SUBPRIME PERFORMANCE
By Rob Rose
Investec CEO Stephen Koseff is a straight-shooter, not encumbered by the diplomacy and graces that sugar coat the image of other bank bosses. Awed insiders describe credit committee meetings where Koseff makes snap decisions with no...
RISK AND OPPORTUNITY
By Ian Fife
UK listed property funds are offering investment yields that nobody would have believed possible a few months ago. For instance, Mapeley (market cap £440m or R6bn), can be bought on a forward yield of 13,4%. Its price of 1 400p is less...
MORE GRIST TO THE RUMOUR MILL
By Sasha Planting
For a company that aspires to being "the world's most admired branded consumer packaged goods and health-care company in emerging markets", the damage to Tiger Brands' reputation caused by the bread price scandal is acute. And the s...
NO FIXED PATH FOR AVUSA
By Matebello Motloung
Johnnic Communications (Johncom), which this week began trading as Avusa, ended the year on a relatively high note, even though confusion still reigns over what the future holds for the company. Johncom announced earlier this year t...
SOMETHING IS STIRRING
By Andrew McNulty
For years, two large investments have been dominant in Remgro's portfolio. One of these is its stake in the UK-based global cigarette producer British American Tobacco (BAT); the other, its holdings in the RMBH/FirstRand group. Toge...
INVESTMENT OF THE WEEK
By Stephen Cranston
Who's it for: Investors who want to maximise returns over the medium term in a way that is compatible with regulation 28 of the Pension Funds Act, which requires investment of no more than 75% in equities. Who runs it: Saul...
'BEST DEAL I'VE EVER SEEN'
By Rob Rose
Jacko Maree's final address to shareholders - before the December 3 vote on whether to sell 20% of Standard Bank to the Industrial & Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) - betrayed exasperation that some investors "just don't get it". At...
A NEW PRESCRIPTION
By Shoks Mzolo
Aspen's US$152,5m (R1,02bn) deal with Mumbai-listed Strides Arcolab represents an important step for the local group in diversifying revenue streams. Strategically, the deal makes sense, says Renaissance analyst Andrew Joannou, who ...
UNWRAPPING A PLAN
By Andrew McNulty
Investors who kept the faith in packaging group Nampak are at last seeing some reward. After three years of static earnings per share (EPS), this group badly needed to show that it could resume consistent growth in EPS and dividends...
BENEFITS BEGIN TO FLOW
By Larry Claasen
Pipe supplier and installer Rare Holdings is almost an environmental group. The AltX-listed company has its origins in the petrochemical and mining industries, but increasingly sees itself as an energy-and-water-saving company. But ...
INVESTORS PICK PIKS
By Desné Masie
Growing interest in emerging markets from private equity players means deals will increase in SA and the rest of Africa. But private equity companies do not have unlimited capital and some acquisitions are pricey. Raising cash...
GROWING GLAMOUR
By Larry Claasen
Placécol CEO Wessel de Wet is an unlikely cosmetics guru. He was running a farm near Ermelo in Mpumalanga 10 years ago, when he and pharmacist Charles Moolman took over a small skin-care company. De Wet acknowledges that cosmetics i...
PUBLISHING
By Matebello Motloung
HOLD AVUSA $ Ord price R98,90 Market cap R10,3bn $ Div yield 1,2% 12-mnth high R118,50 $ PE ratio 4,9 Sector...
PACKAGING
By Andrew McNulty
HOLD NAMPAK $ Ord price R21,41 Market cap R14bn $ Div yield 5,4% 12-mnth high R23,95 $ PE ratio 12,2 Sector ...
DIVERSIFIED INDUSTRIALS
By Andrew McNulty
HOLD REMGRO $ Ord price R196 Market cap R88bn $ Div yield 2,2% 12-mnth high R196,90 $ PE ratio 14 Sector PE ...
DIAMONDS & DOGS
By Jamie Carr
Diamond Kelly Group Remarkably solid results mark the end of an exceptional first year on the boards for Kelly. Revenues are now within spitting distance of R2bn, and a significant increase in operating margin allowed the ...
