FIVE SHARES

JSE bucks trend to outperform US market

THE JSE All Share index gained 3.8 percent over a week to Friday, outperforming most of the major US stocks for a change.

As an example of the weaker US markets, the Nasdaq Composite Index fell 3.4 percent over the week to the opening on Friday.

It’s a remarkable performance because the JSE has generally been at the receiving end of global market movements, particularly through the Covid-19 pandemic, and for once it was at the better end of the wicket.

The share price of Shoprite, the biggest supermarket group in Africa, gained 2.8 percent on Friday to R149.87, just shy of a12-month high and extending its gain over a week.

This was after its reported robust results during the week given the lockdowns, and a sharply higher final dividend of 227 cents versus 163c declared in 2019.

Kumba Iron Ore’s share price was up 3.47 percent to R538.02 on Friday afternoon, but to get an idea how well the world’s fourth-biggest iron miner has performed, consider that the share price has increased by more than 138 percent since the mid-March lows.

The price is also up 473 percent over five years.

The Trading Economics website said on Friday that iron ore futures had been trading around $125 a ton for the first time since February 2014 after the Chinese government stimulus spurred infrastructure spending, boosting demand for the building ingredient.

Iron prices have also been supported by concerns over Brazil’s iron ore supply after coronavirus cases and deaths continued to plague that country’s mining regions.

Richemont’s share was up by 2.56 percent to R121.23 on Friday bringing its gain over a week to more than 7 percent.

According to reports, there has been some speculation of M&A activity in the wake of the collapse of LVMH’s proposed $ 16.2 billion (R271bn) acquisition of Tiffany.

Richemont’s earnings and share price have declined over three years.

This year it has proposed to pay half its dividend to conserve cash, as Swiss watchmakers have seen sales slide during the pandemic because the Chinese, their biggest customers, are no longer able to travel abroad to favoured shopping destinations.

Sasfin Holdings’ share price was up 5.9 to R17 on Friday afternoon, after only two deals, but the share price is up 9.7 percent over a week.

Friday’s gain was in spite of a trading statement warning of a R50.1-R47.7 million headline loss for the 12 months to June 30, mainly as a result of rising credit impairments and private equity valuation declines.

Capital ratios and funding were well above regulatory authority levels.

The five-year share price trend is not pretty.

The share price AltX-listed financial solutions and UK lending company Mettle Investments rose 12.7 percent to R1.80 after an MBO led by chief executive Hendrik van der Merwe Scholtz was announced at a buy-out price of R2.10 a share.

Reasons provided for the delisting included savings on listing costs and operations apparently more suited to an unlisted environment.