Much of South Africa’s attention was focused on the annual Nelson Mandela Lecture presented by Barack Obama in Sandton on Tuesday.

It was a quiet day on the markets but here are some of the stories in the small and mid-cap space that we spotted:

Oando denies media reports

Dual-listed Nigerian oil and petro-chemical group Oando has issued a statement denying that it has been ordered to pay the sum of $680m by the London Court of Arbitration. Oando trades at a multiple of 7.9 times earnings on the JSE and is down 8% over the past 12 months.

Efora to do rights issue

Oil exploration group Efora Energy (previously Sacoil) shares slumped 16% following the announcement that it will be attempting to raise R600m in capital through a rights issue. Majority shareholder the PIC has indicated it will follow its rights in the transaction. Shareholders will receive 324.56 shares for every 100 shares currently held.

Argent buys back shares

Industrial group Argent has indicated that it has purchased 227214 shares on the open market for an aggregate value of R883 897. Argent is up 6% in the last 30 days and trades on a price to earnings multiple of 5 times earnings.

New lows on the JSE

Once again there were no listings which hit intra-day 52 week highs. There were however 5 businesses which hit 52 week lows in intra-day trade on Tuesday: Efora Energy, Advanced Health, Acsion, Grindrod and KAP.

Merafe rises on trading statement

Shares in the resources group were up 1.2% on Tuesday with the release of a production report and trading statement for the 6 months ended 30 June 2018. The company indicated the earnings per share and headline earnings per share would decrease by 7.2% and 17.5% respectively. Merafe trades on an historic price to earnings multiple of 4.5 and offers a 6.8% dividend yield.

Famous Brands FD resigns

Lebo Nthla – Financial Director at Famous Brands – has indicated that she will step down on 30 November 2018. The search for a successor is underway. Famous Brands is trading on a price to earnings multiple of 16 and has cut its dividend.

JSE releases trading statement

Bourse operator JSE Limited saw its shares rise 4.48% on the release of a trading statement for the 6 months ended 30 June 2018. The company indicated that headline earnings per share would be 30 – 40% higher for the 6 months. Shares in the JSE are up 26.8% over the past 12 months.

Grit going to London

African-focused property group Grit has indicated it will list on the LSE on 31 July 2018 in an attempt to raise further capital and diversify its capital base. CEO Bronwyn Corbett points out in this interview (https://www.moneyweb.co.za/news/companies-and-deals/grit-takes-africas-rising-story-to-london/) with Ray Mahlaka from Moneyweb that the company has a 9% US dollar dividend. Grit is up 5% in the last 6 months.