Ghost Wrap

By The Finance GhostBusiness Investing

Ghost Wrap episodes

January 15, 2024Ghost Wrap #59 (Merafe | Pick n Pay | Frontier Transport | Tharisa + Northam Platinum)
Welcome to Ghost Wrap, your regular update on the most interesting company news in the South African market.

In this episode of Ghost Wrap, I covered these important stories on the local market:
Merafe's 2023 production numbers are a good reminder of the importance of not just availability of electricity, but also the cost thereof.
Pick n Pay has a critically important year ahead and Sean Summers has now appointed his executive team - can they save the share price?
Frontier Transport announced a substantial special dividend, rewarding shareholders who dig around on the JSE for cheap shares.
Tharisa and Northam Platinum announced recent production numbers, for the quarter and six months ended December 2023 respectively. Tharisa's share price has been slightly shielded by chrome production in the past year, but both are well down as the PGM market has suffered.
The Ghost Wrap podcast is proudly brought to you by Mazars, a leading international audit, tax and advisory firm with a national footprint within South Africa. Visit the Mazars website for more information.
5 min
December 15, 2023Ghost Wrap #58 (Tharisa | enX - Nedbank | Thungela | Italtile | Grindrod)
Welcome to Ghost Wrap, your regular update on the most interesting company news in the South African market.

In this episode of Ghost Wrap, I covered these important stories on the local market:
Tharisa has PGM and chrome operations, which means the company has two levers to pull in response to commodity prices.
enX is selling Eqstra to Nedbank, which has interesting financial and strategic considerations for investors in both those groups.
Thungela can't do much about local infrastructure at Transnet and the negative effect it has, but some clever dealmaking in the Aussie acquisition has paid off.
Italtile is still suffering in an environment where consumers are buying holidays and experiences, not new bathrooms.
Grindrod has a partially mitigating factor when it comes to local infrastructure, holding an indirect stake in the company operating the Maputo port - and that concession is being extended by the Mozambican government.
The Ghost Wrap podcast is proudly brought to you by Mazars, a leading international audit, tax and advisory firm with a national footprint within South Africa. Visit the Mazars website for more information.
6 min
December 09, 2023Ghost Wrap #57 (British American Tobacco | Absa + Nedbank | Transaction Capital | Spur | Murray & Roberts)
Welcome to Ghost Wrap, your regular update on the most interesting company news in the South African market.

In this episode of Ghost Wrap, I recapped five important stories on the local market:
British American Tobacco is seen as a defensive stock, but I have a different view on it.
Absa and Nedbank released updates this week and although Absa's return on equity is likely still ahead of Nedbank, the share price performance this year shows what happens when expectations aren't met.
Transaction Capital is now behaving more like an investment holding company than the integrated, one-team-one-dream business of a few years ago.
Spur is ready to go Italian, with the acquisition of 60% of Doppio Zero having closed and some interesting prospects already on the table.
Murray & Roberts has made great strides in repairing the balance sheet, with an encouraging update that takes a rights issue off the table (for now at least).
The Ghost Wrap podcast is proudly brought to you by Mazars, a leading international audit, tax and advisory firm with a national footprint within South Africa. Visit the Mazars website for more information.
8 min
December 02, 2023Ghost Wrap #56 (Purple Group | Spar | Pepkor | Bidvest | Attacq)
Welcome to Ghost Wrap, your regular update on the most interesting company news in the South African market.

In this episode of Ghost Wrap, I recapped five important stories on the local market:
Purple Group may be loss-making, but the revenue resilience in a near-impossible year is a strong tick in the box for this story.
Spar has hopefully signed off on the worst year that the company will ever experience, with several own goals and the suspension of dividends.
Pepkor has a reputation as a defensive retailer, but that doesn't seem appropriate based on the underlying businesses.
Bidvest gave the market a fright with its recent commentary about pricing pressure, leading to a sharp correction in the share price.
Attacq is an excellent reminder that the old adage of "location, location, location" applies to REITs as well.
The Ghost Wrap podcast is proudly brought to you by Mazars, a leading international audit, tax and advisory firm with a national footprint within South Africa. Visit the Mazars website for more information.
7 min
November 25, 2023Ghost Wrap #55 (Mr Price | Southern Sun vs. City Lodge | Sirius Real Estate | African Rainbow Capital | Sibanye-Stillwater)
Welcome to Ghost Wrap, your regular update on the most interesting company news in the South African market.

In this episode of Ghost Wrap, I recapped five important stories on the local market:
Mr Price released results that I felt were rather poor, yet the market took the stock over 8% higher by the close on the day of release. Either I'm wrong, or the market is wrong. Listen to my reasoning and decide for yourself.
Southern Sun and City Lodge are enjoying a resurgence in demand for hotel rooms, with the former doing as well as I expected and the latter surprising me to the upside.
Sirius Real Estate executed a successful capital raise on the market, demonstrating that investors are highly supportive of the strategy.
African Rainbow Capital has made sure once and for all that I'll never touch the company with my money, as the latest capital raise is highly painful for minority shareholders.
Sibanye-Stillwater incurred the wrath of investors with the news of a convertible bond capital raise, but did the market overreact to this news?
The Ghost Wrap podcast is proudly brought to you by Mazars, a leading international audit, tax and advisory firm with a national footprint within South Africa. Visit the Mazars website for more information.
8 min
November 18, 2023Ghost Wrap #54 (NEPI Rockcastle | MultiChoice | Santam | Shoprite vs. Woolworths | Richemont)
Welcome to Ghost Wrap, your regular update on the most interesting company news in the South African market.

In this episode of Ghost Wrap, I recapped five important stories on the local market:
NEPI Rockcastle is seen as one of the better REITs on the local market and a recent update shows why.
MultiChoice is in for a long journey with Showmax, at a time when the rest of the business is facing substantial other challenges.
Santam is focused on repricing risk, which means upward pressure on short-term insurance premiums across the industry.
Shoprite is doing an exceptional job of growing volumes, with further market share gains that look especially impressive when compared to a competitor like Woolworths.
Richemont saw sales drop in the Americas region and margins are under pressure across the board, so is the online side of the business proving to be a distraction?
The Ghost Wrap podcast is proudly brought to you by Mazars, a leading international audit, tax and advisory firm with a national footprint within South Africa. Visit the Mazars website for more information.
6 min
November 10, 2023Ghost Wrap #53 (Bell Equipment | MTN | AVI | Truworths | De Beers)
Welcome to Ghost Wrap, your regular update on the most interesting company news in the South African market.

In this episode of Ghost Wrap, I recapped five important stories on the local market:
Bell Equipment can take a bow, with a trading statement showing very strong earnings growth and a few weeks left this year to still achieve a further positive earnings surprise.
MTN is a casualty of African currency weakness, which makes it vulnerable to further dollar strength and a slow Chinese recovery - complicated look-through exposures that are important to understand.
AVI is achieving reasonable revenue growth at the moment, with a focus on margins paying off for the company.
Truworths has demonstrated just how tough the SA consumer retail environment still is, with the UK business saving the day.
De Beers has experienced another sharp drop in sales, with a perfect storm of macroeconomic challenges and cheaper lab-grown diamonds clearly visible in the numbers.
The Ghost Wrap podcast is proudly brought to you by Mazars, a leading international audit, tax and advisory firm with a national footprint within South Africa. Visit the Mazars website for more information.
6 min
November 04, 2023Ghost Wrap #52 (MTN | Woolworths | Pepkor | Octodec | AB InBev)
Welcome to Ghost Wrap, your regular update on the most interesting company news in the South African market.

In this episode of Ghost Wrap, I recapped five important stories on the local market:
MTN's African subsidiaries are causing headaches right now, with Uganda as the silver lining but too small to make up for the concerns in the others.
Woolworths is acquiring Absolute Pets and it's a deal that makes a lot of strategic sense to me.
Pepkor is seen as a defensive retailer in South Africa, but does that thesis hold these days?
Octodec has growth its distribution per share despite a drop in distributable income - what does this tell us about REITs at the moment?
AB InBev must be cheering on the Springbok celebrations, as beer volumes have been under pressure this year.
The Ghost Wrap podcast is proudly brought to you by Mazars, a leading international audit, tax and advisory firm with a national footprint within South Africa. Visit the Mazars website for more information.
6 min
October 27, 2023Ghost Wrap #51 (Santova | Spear REIT | Bytes Technology | Super Group | Clicks)
Welcome to Ghost Wrap, your regular update on the most interesting company news in the South African market.

In this episode of Ghost Wrap, I recapped five important stories on the local market:
Santova is a reminder that even the best cyclical companies are still subject to big moves in these markets.
Spear REIT is one of the most respected property funds on the local market, but debt costs are biting.
Bytes Technology is an excellent example of how you can give your money a passport right here on the JSE.
Super Group has had a really successful debt raise on the JSE, which is good news for shareholders as the cost of debt directly impacts equity returns.
Clicks has put in a decent performance in this financial year, but I remain weary of paying top dollar for a business that can still be disrupted.
The Ghost Wrap podcast is proudly brought to you by Mazars, a leading international audit, tax and advisory firm with a national footprint within South Africa. Visit the Mazars website for more information.
6 min
October 17, 2023Ghost Wrap #50 (PSG Financial Services | MiX Telematics | Karooooo | CMH | African Bank and Sasfin | Cashbuild | Calgro M3)
Welcome to Ghost Wrap, your regular update on the most interesting company news in the South African market.

In this episode of Ghost Wrap, I recapped a week's worth of news across a variety of sectors:
PSG Financial Services is making a strong case for itself as an attractive option on the local market.
MiX Telematics has attracted an international suitor and the merged entity would be listed on the JSE, so that's exciting news.
Karooooo will be sticking to its knitting going forward and that's a good thing.
CMH is on the wrong side of a car market that is finally cracking, with the car hire business doing a lot better than automotive retail.
Sasfin has managed to offload two business units off to African Bank at a juicy price, leading to a major rally in the Sasfin share price.
Cashbuild continues to struggle, with revenue flat year-on-year.
Calgro M3 released solid results that also show the benefit of share buybacks when used properly.
The Ghost Wrap podcast is proudly brought to you by Mazars, a leading international audit, tax and advisory firm with a national footprint within South Africa. Visit the Mazars website for more information.
7 min