Brait has reduced its stake in Premier Group (JSE: BAT | JSE: PMR)
They have raised around R1 billion in the process
Sometimes you get a cold call offering you an insurance quote; other times it’s because someone wants to buy R1 billion in shares from you. Not all cold calls are created equal!
After receiving unsolicited interest from a number of institutional investors, Brait decided to reduce its stake in Premier Group. They raised roughly R1 billion through the sale of 5.6 million ordinary shares in Premier at R177.50 per share, a 3% discount to the 30-day volume-weighted average price (VWAP).
This works out to around 4.4% of Premier’s shares in issue. Brait’s stake is reducing from 28.7% to 24.3%, so they still have plenty of exposure to Premier.
Brait’s indicated use of the proceeds is as vague as it comes: general working capital purposes, potential investment in existing portfolio companies and repayment of group debt.
As expected, Merafe’s numbers are going to be horrible (JSE: MRF)
They are still profitable, but they were desperate for help from NERSA
Merafe has released a trading statement for the year ended December 2025. The period is critical here, as a year is a long time in a business that is gently falling over. Based on the timing of smelters being shut off during the year, the results towards the end of the period will be very different to what we saw at the start.
The Lion Smelter is up and running again as of 16 February 2026, with NERSA having given them a lifeline in the form of a lower electricity tariff for 12 months.
And believe me, “lifeline” is the word. For the year to December, HEPS fell by between 62% and 82%. The fundamentals in ferrochrome have been weak, while electricity price increases have made most of the smelters economically unviable.
The NERSA relief is really just a Band-Aid, not a long-term solution. Despite this, the share price is up 8% over 12 months. It trades at a low Price/Earnings multiple, but it’s beyond me how this share price has held up so well.
Although only a small part of Glencore’s (JSE: GLN) business, the performance of Merafe is relevant to shareholders in Glencore as the ferrochrome operations are a joint venture.
MTN Nigeria, the most important African subsidiary in the group, had a great 2025 (JSE: MTN)
Business in the rest of Africa is all about the macroeconomic timing
MTN’s key subsidiary, MTN Nigeria, has released its results for the year ended December 2025. With subscribers up 7.9% and service revenue increasing by 55.1%, you already know that this is a positive story.
Before moving on to the profits, I want to mention that voice revenue was up by 42.1%. This is immense growth in what is essentially a legacy business for the telco players. Data revenue grew by 74.5% and fintech revenue was up 79.7%, so voice is really holding its own there.
EBITDA more than doubled, taking EBITDA margin up by 13.6 percentage points to 52.7%. Most importantly, profit after tax swung spectacularly from negative N400.4 billion to positive N1.1 trillion. This is thanks to a fantastic (and lucky) change in fortunes for African currencies vs. the US dollar. MTN Nigeria, like many other businesses in Africa, was on a very concerning trajectory before the dollar started weakening.
Although capital expenditure more than doubled, earnings were strong enough that free cash flow more than tripled to N1.2 trillion.
As great as this is, their target is to get EBITDA margin slightly higher. They believe it can increase to the mid-to-high 50s from the current level of 52.7%. They are also targeting ongoing average service revenue growth of at least 20%.
It’s worth noting that headline inflation in the country averaged 23.4% for the year, so revenue growth rates need to be above that level just for the group to achieve real growth (not just nominal growth).
Northam Platinum’s HEPS is 25x higher than the prior period (JSE: NPH)
And no, that isn’t a typo
Northam Platinum has released interim results for the six months to December 2025. The numbers are a bit of a joke, really. You’re about to see why PGM stocks climb so rapidly when the metal prices increase.
At the top of the income statement, we find a 60% increase in revenue. A 13.7% increase in metal sold certainly helps, but the real story is that the 6E basket price was up 57.2% in US dollars. The 6E price in rand was up 44.6%. Sure, there was a 2.7% decrease in the average chrome price in rand, but that’s a minor blemish on the story.
The cash margin per equivalent refined 6E ounce jumped from 21.1% to 41.2%. When your margins nearly double, exciting things happen to your income statement.
Operating profit jumped by 439% (over 5x higher) to R5.8 billion, taking operating profit margin from 7.5% to 25.1%. Yes, there’s a particularly weak base effect here, but it’s still a great outcome.
By the time we get to HEPS, the numbers are even more ridiculous. With the full effect of operating leverage (fixed costs) and financial leverage (debt) coming through, Northam’s HEPS moved from R0.61 cents to R15.24 per share. That really is ridiculous, reflecting an increase in HEPS of 25x!
Nobody really knows where the PGM prices will go, but things are certainly looking much better for the sector. Northam’s credit rating has even moved from a stable to a positive outlook.
But what is your outlook?
Vukile’s Spanish subsidiary enters Madrid (JSE: VKE)
Castellana is acquiring Islazul Shopping Centre
Vukile Property Fund announced that Castellana Properties, its 99.7%-held Spanish subsidiary, is acquiring Islazul Shopping Centre in Madrid. If you can believe it, this is the first property that the fund will own in the capital city!
The pricing seems to finally be attractive in Madrid, with Castellana keen to take advantage of high growth in the population. Madrid is a city that people want to move to, rather than run away from, as evidenced by a growth rate that is more than double the national average of Spain.
Through initiatives like being added to Castellana’s asset management platform, enhancing the tenant mix and undertaking various capital improvement projects, Vukile believes that they can unlock additional net operating income of €2.2 million over five years. They will also benefit from an important metro line that is scheduled for completion in 2027, adding further potential footfall to what is already a highly populated area.
And while I’m skeptical of awards in general, it’s worth noting that this centre is recognised as “the most sustainable shopping centre in the world” – something that Europeans absolutely love. I presume this includes plenty of natural light, which certainly does make for a more pleasurable shopping experience.
The asset price is €318.4 million, calculated using a base price of €340 million before adjustments. Castellana is buying the shares in the property company, not the property itself. This means that there are liabilities as well. It looks like the price for the shares is €202.2 million, with potential small adjustments for working capital changes.
€30 million is deferred until 15 December 2026, with the remainder payable on the closing date (expected to be 30 April 2026).
The net initial yield is 6.5%. Thanks to the cheap debt available in Europe, the senior debt to fund the acquisition helps boost this to a cash-on-cash yield in excess of 8%. They are planning a loan-to-value ratio of 48%.
In addition, Castellana will fund a capex tranche of €12.5 million with an expected return of around 10% based on the €2.2 million uplift that they are targeting.
Frustratingly, the announcement doesn’t give historical financial information. They only indicate the forecast profits for the 11 months to March 2027 (on the assumption they acquire it at the end of April 2026) and then the 12 months to March 2028. It’s also not entirely clear to me whether the forecasts include the €2.2 million uplift. Either way, for the year to March 2028, they expect net profit after tax of €22.8 million and profit available for distribution of €14.4 million.
It’s only a Category 2 transaction under JSE rules, so this is as much information as we are going to get at this stage. There is no shareholder vote required on this transaction.
Nibbles:
- Director dealings:
- This is an unusual one, but worth mentioning. Jubilee Metals (JSE: JBL) announced that the CEO and CFO received shares worth over R4.1 million for the successful disposal of the South African operations. Why is this relevant? It seems as though they had the choice to receive cash, but they elected to receive shares instead.
- A director of Dipula Properties (JSE: DIB) sold shares worth over R1.1 million.
- A director of Sasol (JSE: SOL) sold shares worth R925k.
- A director of KAL Group (JSE: KAL) bought shares worth R593k.
- The CFO of Mantengu (JSE: MTU) bought shares worth R39.5k.
- MC Mining (JSE: MCZ) is now 44.01% held by Kinetic Development Group. This provided the funding they need for the Makhado Project, which is moving towards achieving first coal production. Steady-state production is expected to be reached by the end of this year. They now employ 970 people, of whom 435 are from the Makhado municipal area. This is the value of private sector investment vs. a bloated government trying to create unsustainable jobs.
- Remgro (JSE: REM) has renewed the cautionary announcement related to a potential restructuring of the company’s interests in Mediclinic. As you might recall, Remgro is in negotiations with Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) to execute a transaction that would lead to Remgro owning the South African assets and MSC owning the offshore assets. It makes a lot of sense to me strategically, so I hope Remgro gets it right.
- PPC (JSE: PPC) announced that PPC Zimbabwe is still trying to sell the Arlington Property to Transvaal Africa for $30 million. The deal was first announced in August 2025 and has been through a few challenges, including a land claim by a Zimbabwe housing cooperative! The High Court of Zimbabwe dismissed that claim with costs. Thanks to all the hurdles, the parties have extended the “date for milestone events” to 30 June 2026.
- Ethos Capital (JSE: EPE) has completed the sale of the so-called Residual Assets for R640 million. This leaves them with only the investment in Optasia (JSE: OPA) and the economic participation in Chronos Capital via the Ethos Artificial Intelligence Fund I (B) Partnership. The large pro-rata repurchase of shares by Ethos Capital is planned for 9th March, funded through these proceeds and the partial sale of Optasia during the IPO process.
- Jubilee Metals (JSE: JBL) has updated the market on some important developments in the strategic thinking. With the operating assets now exclusively in Zambia, they are looking to change the board over time to reflect that reality (vs. the historical split between SA and Zambia). They are also preparing for future cash returns to shareholders, including a possible conversion of share premium reserves into distributable reserves.
- Collins Property Group (JSE: CPP) is looking to implement a new employee share plan. They’ve issued a circular and called a shareholder meeting to approve it. If you have a material position here, I suggest you give it a read.
- NEPI Rockcastle (JSE: NRP) has issued a circular dealing with the choice between cash dividends and a reduction of capital.
- Shuka Minerals (JSE: SKA) has received more results from analysis of field samples collected at Kabwe Mine. The results support the thesis around high zinc and lead grades at the surface.
- Africa Bitcoin Corporation (JSE: BACA) has bought another 0.4742 BTC for R512k. Perhaps the bigger story is that they’ve borrowed R2.1 million, with around a quarter used for this purchase of bitcoin and the rest used to settle a more expensive facility. There’s a small balance left for the SME lending business. Their average acquisition price is R1.56 million per BTC and the latest purchase was at a price below R1.1 million per BTC. This doesn’t exactly strike me as an asset that should be bought with debt.
- Salungano Group (JSE: SLG) is still suspended from trading on the JSE. This means that the group needs to release a quarterly progress report. The reason for the suspension is that they are far behind with financial reporting. For example, the AGM for the year ended March 2024 was only held in November 2025! They are catching up though, with the plan being that FY25 results will be released by the end of March 2026. FY26 interims are expected to be released by the end of April 2026. Based on this expectation, the suspension is expected to be lifted by June 2026.
- It looks like Efora Energy (JSE: EEL) is still going to be suspended from trading for a while. The company is trading under cautionary and is looking to finalise those negotiations before advising the market on the approach to be taken to releasing the 2025 annual reports.
- Another one in the naughty corner is Wesizwe Platinum (JSE: WEZ), where they are aiming to release the financials for the six months to June 2025 by no later than 31 March 2026. The financials for the year ended December 2025 are planned to be released by 30 April 2026.
