Browsing: Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE)

Shoprite-Group
  • A2X will mark the fourth exchange that Shoprite Group shares will be available to investors.
  • A2X market has partnered with Aqui Exchange, providing it with a licensing matching engine, surveillance and clearing technology.
  • The Namibian Stock Exchange (NSX) and Lusaka Securities Exchange (LUSE) have also listed Shoprite Group as an instrument in their respective countries.

Shoprite Group, South Africa’s largest retailer, has been approved for a secondary listing on A2X Markets, an upcoming stock exchange market. The retailer’s shares will be available for trade on A2X from April 11, 2023.

On April 4th, A2X Market announced that Shoprite Group had met the criteria for appearing under its secondary listing. This sudden turn of events is not unexpected, as South Africa’s largest retailer has had a series of wins over the past years. 

A2X will mark the fourth exchange that Shoprite Group shares will be available to investors after Johannesburg Stock

Thungela Resources set to diversify beyond coal
  • Thungela Resources Limited has been busy with mergers and acquisitions to grow its geographic footprint and diversify from its pure play coal business.
  • The JSE listed miner recently made the news when it agreed to purchase an Australian coal miner called Ensham.
  • The acquisition of Ensham is an all cash transaction wherein Thungela is taking a 65% interest. 

The Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) listed pure play coal mining company which was created from the demerger of Anglo American’s coal assets has been on a mergers and acquisitions spree. Thungela announced earlier this month that it had acquired an Australian coal mine. This move has been read by market analysts as a risk mitigation move by diversifying away from South Africa. It also bought out its Black Empowerment partners in a US$ 60 million transaction.

Green Bonds: A possible solution to the Zimbabwe power crisis

On the M&A front, Thungela bought …

Sygnia lists ETF that invests in clean energy and space exploration. www.theexchange.africa

The listing of SYGSE happens at a time the JSE is preparing to usher in new amendments to its listings requirements, paving the way for issuers to list and trade Actively Managed ETFs (AMETFs) for the first time in the bourse’s history.

In September, the bourse announced that the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) approved amendments to the JSE listings requirements, allowing issuers to list and trade AMETFs for the first time. “The changes [allow] locally registered Collective Investment Scheme (CIS) management companies to list ETFs which related to offshore assets on South African securities exchanges. It [allows] these funds unlimited investment in offshore assets, subject to the restrictions on their offshore portfolio allowances.”

The stock exchange indicated that given the global ETF market’s evolution and the local industry’s desire, the impending introduction of AMETFs in South Africa aligns with global best practices.…

Sasol Stable but not out of the woods

Sasol’s results presentation in February was an awkward affair. The session was pre-recorded and then aired on the company’s website.

It was not interactive. When the recording ended so did the webcast. Other corporate interactions and results announcements are usually interactive. The top executives of a company will meet in person with a group of individuals and the rest tune in online.

At the end of the session, the group of people in attendance are given the opportunity to speak to the executives of the company asking them questions and commenting on the financial results being presented. This was not the case with Sasol. But then again Sasol is not your typical company…

It left an impression that the top brass at the giant South African petrochemicals company does not like to take questions from stakeholders and analysts… Given that the company has just come out of severe financial distress …

BIDVEST

The resilience of the diversified services group was enabled by the company’s widespread portfolio of businesses.

Bidvest owns a vast array of businesses that span diversified services like car dealerships, airlines, toilet hire, banks, real estate, food services and information technology. Now the diversified services or conglomerate business model is no longer in vogue.

It is outmoded and yet since 1988 Bidvest has grown from being a fledgling pet foods dealer to one of the largest companies listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange on the back of the same model. This diversified services model has given it the strength to withstand the shocks from the pandemic and also to weather the adverse economy in its home country and abroad. The company has made a resounding comeback.

Bidvest has gained a worthy reputation for being a value accretive investment for shareholders over the years. Its blue-chip status is well deserved, it …

The JSE has experienced a net decline in the listings on its main board as companies leave the bourse looking for alternative markets like private equity as sources of long term capital.

Listing activity on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange has been on the decline over the last 3 years. The largest and oldest bourse on the African continent reported in its financial results for 2021 that at least 25 companies de-listed from it during that year. In 2020 there were 20 companies that left the bourse and prior to that there were 24 de-listings. There were only 7 initial public offerings (IPOs) on the JSE in 2021 and only 4 in 2020. The net effect of these developments is that the number of companies listed on the JSE is shrinking. Its current state is a far cry from what it was like at its height in the nineties. At that …

The JSE. www.theexchange.africa

Ratings agency pronouncements are important in that they determine the financial standing of a country in the markets. When a country has unfavourable ratings, it will find it difficult to borrow without paying high-interest rates.

Conversely, favourable ratings indicate a much more stable credit proposition which will enable a borrower to access funding at concessionary rates.

South Africa has received funding to the tune of tens of billions of Rand from developed countries. This financial package has been to assist the country in reducing its reliance on fossil fuels for its energy. The country received this money immediately after the COP 26 conference last year.…

A worker at the Arcelor Mittal company in South Africa. www.theexchange.africa

In 2004, Mittal Steel was founded following the merger of Ispat International and LNM Holdings, and the simultaneous acquisition of International Steel Group, becoming came the world’s leading steel producer.

Shortly after, in 2006, Mittal Steel launched an ambitious bid to merge with Arcelor, creating ArcelorMittal.

Lakshmi Mittal has done very well, and it leaves little doubt in the mind that he has enjoyed a very gratifying career replete with success in business if his personal bank account is anything to go by together with numerous recognitions of his work in philanthropy and his contribution to the steel industry.…

Capitec Founder Michiel le Roux. www.theexchange.africa

These prospective customer circumstances have provided the proverbial “ace” which Capitec has played very successfully during its 21 years of existence.

Capitec’s success is attributable largely to the leadership of one man Stassen and the support of his team. Stassen for his part is not a traditional banker, he was during his time at the helm of the bank an even more unconventional CEO.

In his own words, he is non-hierarchical, consultative, and often informal in his approach. By his own admission, he is not a natural reader but said that he learns a lot from observation… Typically the average chief executive is said to read at least 52 books a year… but then Stassen was not an average CEO.…

South Africa's Superstar Banking Corporation, Capitec. www.theexchange.africa

Capitec Bank has 16 million clients, more than half of which bank digitally.

The bank has more than 800 branches spread out through South Africa. Capitec can now claim to be the bona fide largest banking company in South Africa.

Capitec Bank was founded in 2000 in a sector fiercely competed for and dominated by what was then the big four banks, Standard Bank, Nedbank, FNB and ABSA.…