Old Mutual recently reported a strong set of interim results, boosted by an exceptional performance from the short-term insurance business.
Lauren Zunckel
Telkom has proved to be a remarkable turnaround story over the past two years. Management has been successful in streamlining the portfolio, selling off non-core assets, and shifting focus to a core portfolio comprised of Telkom Consumer, Openserve and BCX.
Pepkor recently reported a reasonable set of interim results, with a 12% increase in earnings. The key aspect of the result that garnered interest from the market is the Fintech business within the Group.
A major theme of the first quarter has been a significant spike in volatility in global markets, particularly the US. This has naturally fed into the entire financial eco
system, driven by Trump assuming office and implementing a barrage of executive orders from the get-go. The US, as a result, is undergoing massive
changes which will lead to structural change in the
US economy.
The platinum group metals sector got off to a very strong start in Q1, following a weak 2024. Given that PGM stocks were beaten up heading into 2025, it did not take much positive news to get PGM stock prices going. In this case, the Rhodium
price spiked unexpectedly.
We recently initiated a position in Pan African, which is a smaller and more geographically concentrated gold miner relative to its larger peers, Harmony, Goldfields and AngloGold. We also believe there are interesting elements of the
investment case where management will be able to extract value from the operations even if the gold price pulls back moderately.
Nampak, the leading manufacturer of beverage cans in South Africa, embarked on a remarkable turnaround story in 2024, led by renowned turnaround specialist Phil Roux.
Anglo American has been a key underweight and exclusion in our portfolios over the past two years as we favoured the quality of BHP Group.
We have been long term holders in Afrimat and have observed the business as management has navigated several different cycles and repositioned the business to continually capitalise on growth opportunities.
2023 marked the toughest year for the poultry industry on record. Multiple calamities struck, with the worst being the unprecedented level of loadshedding.