Markets stabilised in Tuesday trade but concerns around Emerging Market currencies continued to swirl and geopolitics took centre stage with the historic North Korea / US summit.
Here are some of the small and mid-cap stories from the JSE on Tuesday:
Westbrooke bullish on small-caps
Asset management firm Westbrooke has released a research report suggesting that the JSE small-caps (market capitalisation of under R2bn) are attractively priced. You can read more on that here (https://www.decusatio.co.za/our-views/westbrooke-bullish-on-sa-small-caps/)
Datatec shares rise as directors lay down cash
The ICT group saw its shares rise on the announcement that it wanted to proceed ahead of schedule with its share buy-back. CEO Jens Montanana purchased R10.5m worth of shares while executive director Simon Morris R968 967 at an average price of R21.28/share.
Crookes releases full year results
Agri group Crookes Brothers saw its shares trade 9% higher (on just 5 shares trading hands at R52/share) after the release of full year results for the year ended March 2018. The group lost 50.6c/share compared to a headline earnings per share figure of 424c/share in the previous financial year. The group has pointed to the successful defence of a land-claim case and an improved outlook for Macadamia nuts could be catalysts for a better new full year.
New 52-week lows and highs
The small and mid-cap sector continues to face liquidity constraints but CSG Holdings has hit a new 52-week high of R1.31/share intra-day on Tuesday. Construction groups Group 5 and Aveng hit new 52-week lows. CSG is up 11% in the last 30 days and trades on a price to earnings multiple of 5.95 times earnings and offers a 3.8% dividend yield.
Labat rises on cautionary
Shares in the investment holding company rose 4.6% (40 000 shares trading at between 43c and 45c/share) on Tuesday following the release of a detailed cautionary around the acquisition of dry bulk carrier business Elf Trans for R40m plus 15 million Labat shares at R1/share.
Furniture business remains slow
Household furnisher group Nictus has warned that earnings will be lower. The company released a trading statement that it is expecting headline earnings to come in at between 7.3c/share and 8.3c/share which is between 20% and 30% lower than what it reported in the previous year.
Caxton acquires Novus stake
Followers of the media sector will note with some interest the announcement yesterday that Caxton has acquired a 5% stake in Novus which was previously an operating subsidiary of Naspers controlled Media24. Caxton trades on price to earnings multiple of 7 and offers a 7% dividend yield while Novus trades on an historical PE of 3 and offers a 14% dividend yield.
De Beers man joins South Ocean
Little-followed electronics and cabling group South Ocean Holdings have appointed Barend Petersen to its board in a non-executive role. Petersen is the Executive Chairman of De Beers Consolidated Mines Limited and the Chairman of the Social and Ethics Committee. Barend is a non-executive director of De Beers PLC, Anglo American South Africa Limited and Curro Holdings and unlisted companies. He is also a Member of the Council of the Chamber of Mines of South Africa.
Grand Parade plugs executive hole
Following a high level of turnover amongst executives at the group, Grand Parade confirmed the appointment of Colin Priem as group financial director. Priem was previously a non-executive director on the board. Shares in Grand Parade were up 7.7% in Tuesday trade leaving the share trading on a price to earnings mulitiple of 18 and offering a 6.3% dividend yield.
Stor-Age hikes dividend
The listed REIT delivered full year results for the year ended March 2018. The dividend was up 11% with the investment portfolio being valued at R3.85bn.
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