Offshore
/ New Zealand going into lockdown, the world is getting vaccinated but the pandemic is far from over.
/ Pfizer expected to get full FDA approval for its covid vaccine this week. A whole new business (covid jabs & mRNA possibilities).
/ Tesla wants to build an AI robot
/ Jackson Hole this week
/ China securities regulator signals willingness to work with the US on audits
Local
/ South Africa inflation lower at 4.6% in July 2021.
/ Sasol results
/ Shoprite / Massmart deal
/ ARB Holdings results
/ Metair results
Offshore
/ US inflation comes in as expected
/ Britain's GDP grew by 4.8% in the second quarter of this year, leaving the economy just 2.2% below its pre-pandemic level
/ Google employees who work from home could lose money
/ US infrastructure bill moving forward
/ India to unveil US$1.35trillion infrastructure bill
Local
/ 100mw power generation laws gazetted
/ Naspers / Prosus swap is unconditional
/ Strong Merafe results
/ MTN results and Sanlam tie up
/ Nedbank results
/ Exxaro and Thungela results
Offshore
/ US GDP 6.5% , below expectations but the economy now larger than pre-pandemic
/ US moving forward with an infrastructure bill
/ The U.S. debt ceiling officially became operative again on Sunday after a two-year suspension
/ Amazon results see stock down 7%
/ Alphabet results & $50bn buyback
/ Microsoft results, LinkedIn does +$10bn
Local
/ Tencent woes hit JSE (but all-time closing high on Thursday)
/ Results; Anglo Platinum, Kumba Iron Ore and Anglo American
/ Liberty2Degrees results
/ ArcelorMittal South Africa results
/ Treasury considering access to retirement savings
In both cases, this amounted to a dividend yield (DY) of around 10% at the interim stage.
No share buybacks as Anglo American (JSE code: AGL) own a significant majority of the shares and likely want the dividend back at home.
The question is will other miners be as generous or will they do some share buybacks as well?
If commodity prices stay where they are, we'll see the same again in six months and into 2022?
If prices remain the same to the end of 2022 (big if?) we'll get a 40% return from just dividends?
This is what super profits look like.
Offshore
/ New closing highs for S&P500 & Nasdaq. But Russel2000 is lagging.
/ Apple delays back to the office to October
/ Twitter and Snap - good results
/ China regulator bars Tencent from exclusive rights in online music
/ Big results due this week; Apple & Amazon. So far reported results have been very strong.
Local
/ Rioting impact, retail about 8% of store space impacted. REITs bigger concern.
/ Local inflation drops
/ Anglo Americana and BHP production updates
/ City lodge sells East African assets
/ Cashbuild update
/ Distell update
Risk is good
I got an email from a listener asking about risk free investments on the JSE. Thing is, there is no risk free on the JSE - and that's a good thing.
Without risk there would be no reward.
When I am looking for investments, I always look for the good things about the business. Margins, growth, product and the like.
But I also dig into the risks, competition, input inflation and the like.
The thing is, I like to see risk, I just want risk that I think the company can manage and ultimately maybe even turn into a benefit. For example, new product is absolutely a risk. But what if they disrupt themselves and create a new product that hits sales of their existing product, but creates an entire new category.
Apple did this with the iPhone, killing off the iPod.
When researching into long-term 'til death do us part' investments
I create a short list of the three main features I like in a stock. But I also create a list of the three main risks and I keep a close eye on both lists.
Offshore
/ US inflation, again above expectations
/ Delta airline results show travel returning
/ US bank earnings as previsions put back into the income statement
/ Netflix looking into gaming
/ QoQ China's GDP increased 1.3% in Q2, 7.9% YoY
Local
/ Rioting impacts as listed companies report details
/ South African Special Risks Insurance Association (Sasria) will cover claims
/ Standard Bank taking out Liberty Holdings
/ Very strong Richemont update
/ Tongaat results
/ Steinhoff increases settlement offer
So the answer here is fairly simple, South Africa has an SOE that covers riot insurance - South African Special Risks Insurance Association (Sasria).
They repeatedly have clean audits (financials are here).
Assets under management is a little over R8billion.
But they have reinsurance.
Pretty much any property insurance you have will include a line item for Sasria and it is very cheap.
For corporates, it is a larger cost every month and the question is are corporates 10% insured or have they done some self insuring.
Offshore
/ US ten year back at 1.36% after peaking at +1.72% in March
/ Jeff Bezos has stepped down as Amazon CEO
/ OPEC+ couldn’t reach an agreement
/ Fed minutes tell us nothing new, except inflation is higher/faster than they expected
/ US extends the economic blacklist of Chinese companies
/ China wants pre-IPO review of all new listings that have large user data
Local
/ Imperial delisting offer at 6600c
/ Sibanye Stillwater bearish on palladium, bullish on platinum & rhodium
/ MultiChoice hit with R63billion tax bill in Nigeria
/ Nedbank WFH policy, 60% in office ie: 2 days WFH each week
/ Prosus shareholders approve share swap
Markets are as quiet as the street of Jozi, so this week a list of my favourite podcasts, the focus is offshore. I'll return and look at local in a few weeks.
Favourite podcasts;
Offshore
/ US The unemployment rate edged up to 5.9% in June
/ US home prices rose by 14.6% in April, the largest gain in 30 year
/ S&P 500 closes green 7 days in a row, record is 8 days (US markets closed Monday)
/ RobinHood proposed listing ~ $40bn valuation
/ Didi Chuxing lists on NYSE, market cap $69bn & Chinese regulator blocks new accounts
Local
/ Modest Q2 for JSE, TOP0 -1.2% (+11% YTD), Fini15 +6.8% in Q2
/ SARB turned 100 last Wednesday
/ May saw another +R50billion trade surplus tax receipts
/ Invicta results
/ AdaptIT shareholders vote for 700c Volaris delisting offer
/ Etion results. The story is they selling LAWTrust business for R245million when the market cap of the entire company is R22million. CEO says plans to return value and delist
SA recorded another trade surplus in May of R54.6billion. This is the 3rd month in a row that the surplus has been above R50billion.
Offshore
/ Gold a flat week after the previous weeks sell-off
/ S&P500 and Nasdaq back at all-time highs after the previous week's aggressive sell-off
/ Global shipping remains under severe pressure as Chinese port shut after a covid-19 outbreak
/ US gets an infrastructure bill, but maybe not. It’s messy
Local
/ Omnia results paid special dividend and SARS dispute
/ Growthpoint trading update
/ Old Mutual to spin off third of their Nedbank holding
/ May CPI 5.2% with core inflation at 3.1%
/ +50s can register for vaccines from Thursday
/ Absa’s Q2 2021 Manufacturing Survey shows rising manufacturer confidence
The third wave of the pandemic in South Africa is so are very much a Gauteng issue as it records higher daily new cases above the peaks from the first and second waves.
This is no surprise to anybody. But what was notable is that lockdown restrictions remain very relaxed (albeit rumours that we'll see tougher restrictions soon). I had expected a harder lockdown for the third wave.
Expecting a harder lockdown I was very cautious on local hospitality stocks.
The Yoco small business turnover index shows activity at 78% of the levels pre-lockdown after hitting 128% at the end of May 2021. So even without harder lockdowns, we are being more cautious but this is still well ahead of the 40% odd we saw during the end of the second waves lockdown.
We also have some Stats SA data on occupancy in tourist accommodation. Here we're back at around 30% for the end of April and that's back where we were before the second wave arrived.
Hotels in South Africa recorded an occupancy rate of 26,8% in April 2021, up from 23,2% in March and 17,9% in February.
Read more here: https://t.co/Pzft0bs8oi#StatsSA pic.twitter.com/rcjbJcUHdV
— Stats SA (@StatsSA) June 21, 2021
Airports Company SA (ACSA) data shows domestic travel picking up to around 60% of pre-pandemic levels. International is at around 15%-20% and regional around 25%-30%.
So in short this new wave is still early days and is hurting, but so far not as bad as I had feared (occupancy data is a month out of date). Certainly ahead of the third wave we were seeing improved tourist activity even if still below the pre-pandemic levels.
So what stocks to look at? I am not rushing in, but they're on a watch list for when we're past this third (and hopefully final) wave.
Offshore
/ Markets spooked by FOMC statement
/ Gold under pressure
/ Brent crude slips but holding above $70
/ TikTok owner ByteDance reports $2.1bn loss
/ Krispy Kreme returning to market with IPO
/ Adobe results
Local
/ Rand under pressure
/ Capitec expects half-year earnings to rise 292%
/ Sephaku update and PPC results
/ Mediclinic to produce own power
/ Alexander Forbes results, retrenchments almost back to ‘normal’ levels
/ Stricter lockdown
Offshore
/ U.S. economy added 559K jobs in May and unemployment fell to 5.8%
/ G7 nations set the minimum global corporate tax rate at 15%
/ AMC issues shares above the current share price
/ Biden expands blacklist to 59 Chinese companies
/ Apple staff back to work 3 days a week, starting September
Local
/ Volaris ups offer to AdaptIT to 700c
/ Sibayne Stillwater to buy back 5% of shares
/ SARB selling their stake in African Bank
/ Famous Brands results
/ Prosus to buy Stack Overflow of US$1.8billion
/ Mark Barnes sells up to half his Purple Group shares
[caption id="attachment_29849" align="aligncenter" width="888"] Fini15 ~ weekly[/caption]
Listing on the BEE board of the JSE on 28 May.
No IPO process ahead of that.
R40 listing price.
But trades subject to supply / demand.
I would expect it to boom initially then settle around R40.
No lock-in period, so you can buy / sell as you wish.
This is very much a long-term investment.
Will be ownership of global AB Inbev (JSE code: ANH) shares worth R5.4billion.
AB Inbev market cap is around R1.8trillion. So a small slice of the entire group of less than 1%.
There is debt included, geared about 55% at 70% of prime payable over ten years.
This is a long-term investment option and NOT a get rich quick scheme.
We have also seen some BEE schemes fail spectacularly.
Not all stockbrokers are enabling trading in the shares. SAB have a trading desk, call them on 0861 900 903.
Only BEE qualifying investors can buy the shares.
hmmm, wasn't it just last year Heineken was hating on us so much they was canceling projects and threatening to take their beer and go home ..
— Simon Brown (@SimonPB) May 18, 2021
jjjjj
Special shares usually with high voting rights and often with limited or zero economic rights.
They enable insiders to retain voting control even while they may not actually control the company.
The most well known are the Naspers~N (JSE code: NPN) A shares that give control to a few parties.
Shoprite* (JSE code: SHP) has the same for Christo Wiese which he tried to sell back to the company. But they have zero economic rights and only are votable by Wiese
More recently it surprised many that while Remgro (JSE code: REM) owns a little over 31% of Distell (JSE code: DGH) they ave a pile of B shares that gives them 56% voting control.
In the older days, companies used pyramid structures, but those have long since largely left the JSE and no new ones can be listed.
The challenge is how to know about them? The annual report will detail them.
Generally, they don't matter massively, until they do. And then they matter. Wiese failed to receive the required number of votes to get back onto the Shoprite board in 2018, but then he used his special shares to basically override shareholders.
JSE – The JSE is a registered trademark of the JSE Limited.
JSE Direct is an independent broadcast and is not endorsed or affiliated with, nor has it been authorised, or otherwise approved by JSE Limited. The views expressed in this programme are solely those of the presenter, and do not necessarily reflect the views of JSE Limited.
Offshore
/ US inflation
/ Disney results
/ US pipeline shut down due to ransomware attack
/ UK rejects (softly) Bidens plan for global corporate tax rate
/ Chinese industrial production and retail sales due Monday
Local
/ Naspers / Prosus share swap
/ Raubex results
/ Ascendis swaps debt for assets
/ Clicks buys Pick n Pay pharamacy business
/ Cape Town airport has best month since lockdown, still 40% down from 2019
/ Long4Life results and NAV discount
More Naspers shuffles
Naspers (JSE code: NPN) and Prosus (JSE code: PRX) have announced another deal to try and close the discount between themselves and their holding in Tencent (Hong Kong code: 700).
Prosus will acquire up to 45.4% of Naspers shares via a share swap whereby holders of Naspers can get 2.27 new Prosus shares for every one Naspers share.
This will increase Prosus liquidity (in theory) and markedly reduce Naspers weighting in the Top40 and Swix indices. The latter argument makes sense and is likely a part of the reason for the discount that Naspers experiences. The problem is that with the weighting above 20% most funds are not allowed to hold over a certain percentage (lower than the Naspers weighting), so they can not go overweight, or even match index weight, for Naspers and this reduces potential buyers of the stock.
Will it work? Maybe.
They have tried many other tricks, unbundling Prosus and earlier MultiChoice (JSE code: MCG) and that hasn't worked. But the weighing in the indices is a real problem.
Of course, the very easy fix here is to simple unbundle the Tencent holding - but that's not going to happen any time (aside from some sales every three years as we saw recently).
JSE – The JSE is a registered trademark of the JSE Limited.
JSE Direct is an independent broadcast and is not endorsed or affiliated with, nor has it been authorised, or otherwise approved by JSE Limited. The views expressed in this programme are solely those of the presenter, and do not necessarily reflect the views of JSE Limited.
Offshore
/ US jobless claims below 500k, lowest since pandemic started. But overall employment slips to 6.1%, up from 6% in March.
/ Janet Yellen says rates will need to rise
/ ECB Official Calls for Accepting Inflation Overshoot
/ Saudi Aramco Q1 profits +30%
/ Gold +$1,800
Local
/ Moodys skips reviewing SA credit rating
/ MTN update
/ Sibanye Stillwater update
/ Kaap Agri results
/ Karooooo results
/ Anglo American gets coal demerger shareholder approval
What an incredible milestone achieved today. Across all platforms & partners we've reached 1 million registrations. @CapitecBankSA @SATRIX_SA @BidvestBankSA @EasyEquities hard to describe how grateful I am to all you #invstr legends that challenge us to rise each day. 🙏🙏🙏
— Charles H Savage (@CharlesHSavage) May 5, 2021
Palladium above US$3,000 (all-time high)
[caption id="attachment_26363" align="aligncenter" width="888"] Palladium weekly chart[/caption]
Platinum above US$1,200 (six-year high)
[caption id="attachment_26365" align="aligncenter" width="888"] Platinum weekly chart[/caption]
Rhodium above US$29,000 (all-time high)
PGMs are considered a 'green' metal in that they help reduce CO2 emissions.
Demand remains above supply.
But the listed miners are languishing nowhere, why?
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JSE – The JSE is a registered trademark of the JSE Limited.
JSE Direct is an independent broadcast and is not endorsed or affiliated with, nor has it been authorised, or otherwise approved by JSE Limited. The views expressed in this programme are solely those of the presenter, and do not necessarily reflect the views of JSE Limited.