Money in the mayhem
If the first few weeks of January are anything to go by, then I’m going to need horse tranquillisers to stay on track. The blows just keep coming. This weekend’s tennis antics saw the Wall of Glencairn and I — normally stout in defence and rarely unbeaten on blustery B court — finally losing to Stoute Kabotes (still delayed in his voyage to North Africa) and Trapdoor (so named for his lever-like double-handed volleys). They smashed us 6-3 — a scoreline that flattered us considering that we spent most of the set lurching at incredible passing shots when we rushed the net.
On the home front, things were just as bad. On Friday a large male baboon was trapped on the garage roof between my cricket bat-wielding son and a paintball gun-toting baboon monitor. The petrified primate eventually made a jump for it … landing on my beloved Honda Jazz — not only setting a massive dent in the roof but also smashing the windscreen. That required a long and intricate call to Outsurance, where my low-claim bonus is in tatters. At the crack of dawn on Monday the baboon troop traipsed back into the veggie garden, unceremoniously snapping the tall sunflowers that gave a bright aspect to the rows of lowly broccoli. My Jack Russells, predictably, went ape, which annoyed the slumbering neighbours no end. The imposing
Dexter — which carries more than a dash of mastiff — was so incensed at the incursion into the veggie patch that he hurtled headfirst into the sliding door. Dexter went down in a quizzical heap, but after a few shakes of his oversized head he was charging around again.
The door, however, was dislocated from its sliding rail. Now we have to lift the door back on the rail to close it.
That, of course, does wonders for my sciatica, but another call to Outsurance will be even more unbearable.
If anything is keeping the spirits up, it is the early advances of my investment portfolio. British American Tobacco has caught fire, while Aveng is looking quite chipper too. Even my small junior mining punts — in complete defiance of the Hasenfuss reverse index (HRI) — have charged ahead, with Alphamin, up 35%, at the head of the pack. Merafe and Wesizwe have also found some traction, though I will confess I am constantly debating switching one into the other.
The shipping news
After penning the FM’s hot stocks cover story last week, I am also looking to build positions in Master Drilling and Gemfields. Both businesses look excellent value.
Another value situation I am pondering is Grindrod, where plans to sell off noncore assets have taken longer to execute than initially anticipated. The value unlock is one thing, but far more intriguing are the prospects for Grindrod’s core logistics businesses.
I received an interesting note from ClucasGray portfolio manager Brendon Hubbard, a longtime Grindrod acolyte. During the December break there were a handful of developments that might have a bearing on Grindrod. These included Maersk proposing to buy Hong Kong-based LF Logistics for $3.6bn and Mediterranean Shipping Co making a €5.7bn bid for Bolloré Africa Logistics. Grindrod, of course, recently cut its last ties with corporate cousin Grindrod Shipping. But Hubbard notes that shipping companies are flush with cash from record-high shipping rates and are looking to decongest the port and logistics chain.
For the record, Grindrod trades on a historic five times earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation multiple.
What’s more, Syrah Resources detailed a graphite supply agreement to Tesla from its northern Mozambique mine. Graphite is a key component of the anode in a lithium-ion battery, and East Africa is home to the larger flake graphites. Hubbard says Grindrod trucks the graphite to the port of Nacala, where it containerises the graphite and provides port services for the containers to be shipped to China and the US.
Far more intriguing are the prospects for Grindrod’s core logistics businesses