Elvis, Lady Gaga and a nature-loving drag queen have all found themselves on the wrong end of a trademark fight. Some of them won, some of them lost, but only one of them got offered free ice-cream as compensation.
At the end of last year, a man named Wyn Wylie completed a 160 kilometre hike in full drag attire – voluminous wig, smokey eyeliner, carabiner earrings and all – in order to raise money for 8 environmental and LGBTQ+ nonprofits. The effort raised more than $1 million dollars from almost 35,000 individual donors via its GoFundMe.
This isn’t Wylie’s first time traversing the great outdoors in makeup either; his drag persona, Pattie Gonia, has made a name for herself as an “outdoorsy queen” who raises funds and awareness for environmental issues by taking drag into nature. Here’s the Instagram.
Before I go on with the story, let me clarify a few things that you might not know about drag queens. Drag queens are performance artists – usually men, although there are a few rare female examples – who use clothing, makeup, and exaggerated mannerisms to play with and celebrate femininity. It’s more than just men in women’s clothing, and it’s not about men who want to be women. A drag queen creates a persona with a name and female pronouns and inhabits that persona only when they are performing – which is why I’ll write he/him when referring to Wylie and she/her when referring to Pattie Gonia, his drag persona.
There’s a long tradition of innuendo and parody in drag. You’ll encounter drag personas with names like Minnie Van Driver, Ariel Versace, Cookie Buffet, Farah Moan and Formelda Hyde. Drag queens are also known for doing drag impersonations of celebrities, politicians and even, in some cases, world leaders. As you can imagine, this occasionally gets them into trouble.
Wyn’s persona, Pattie Gonia, was named after Patagonia the place, not Patagonia the outdoor apparel brand. The outdoor apparel brand is the one taking Pattie to court though – for the princely sum of $1.
The company said in the filing that it was responding to Wylie’s application to trademark Pattie Gonia as a brand. This would mean a move from simply using the name Pattie Gonia (something Patagonia hasn’t had an issue with up until now) to potentially selling products and organising events. Patagonia told the BBC “the last thing we wanted was a legal fight with someone who shares our values”.
It’s an unusually tender thing to say to someone you are suing. But then, trademark law has always been one of the stranger corners of the legal world – the place where serious companies argue with total sincerity about whose pun belongs to whom. Before we get to how Patagonia’s dollar fits into all this, it’s worth meeting a few of the more colourful trademark disputes that came before it.
Elvis Presley vs BrewDog
In 2015, the Scottish brewery BrewDog launched a grapefruit IPA called Elvis Juice. Authentic Brands Group – the company that manages Elvis Presley’s name and estate – was not amused. It wrote to BrewDog’s founders, James Watt and Martin Dickie, instructing them to drop the name or else. Watt and Dickie said “try us” and legally changed their own first names to Elvis by deed poll so that they could claim they had named the beer after themselves. A word of caution when arguing with Scottsmen: expect the unexpected.
The UK’s Intellectual Property Office was initially unswayed by the hijinks of the brewers and ruled in favour of the King’s estate in 2017, on the grounds that drinkers might mistake the beer for an official Presley product. However, on appeal, that decision was overturned. The common thread of “Elvis”, the ruling found, was not enough on its own to make anyone think the King had gone into the session-IPA business. Two men (recently) named Elvis won, and they’re still selling Elvis Juice by the crate today.
WWF vs WWF/E
In 2000, the World Wide Fund for Nature (the one with the panda logo) took the World Wrestling Federation (the one with the muscly people in spandex) to the High Court in England over the use of their shared initials – WWF. The Fund had seniority by a wide margin, having registered the letters in 1961, a full 18 years before the wrestling promotion adopted them. The two WWFs had coexisted confusingly but harmoniously for decades, and had even signed an agreement in 1994 under which the Wrestling Federation promised to keep the plain initials (which were used by the Fund) out of its branding.
What broke the peace was the internet. In 1997 the Wrestling Federation launched WWF.com and rolled out a new “scratch” logo that put the letters back on open display. The Fund considered both actions a breach of their agreement. The Federation’s defence was unusual but not without merit: a contract signed in 1994 could not possibly have anticipated the mass adoption of the world wide web, and so, it argued, shouldn’t be held to cover it. Its other line of defence was that no one on earth would ever confuse a wildlife charity with a wrestling show, since nobody was at real risk of mistaking a panda for The Rock.
The court ruled for the Fund, the Court of Appeal ruled for the Fund again, and the Federation was ordered to rebrand, which it did through a marketing campaign titled “Get The F Out” (I promise I’m not making this up). It’s been calling itself World Wrestling Entertainment – or WWE – since then. The pandas, unfussed and unbothered, have shown us that it pays to give an F about your brand.
Lady Gaga vs two ice-cream parlours
If I had a R10 for every time Lady Gaga threatened to take an ice-cream parlour to court for naming a flavour after her, I’d have R20, which feels… anticlimactic. The drama kicked off in 2011, when Gaga’s lawyers sent a cease-and-desist to a London parlour called The Icecreamists, which was selling a £14 scoop of ice-cream made with human breast milk under the name “Baby Gaga”.
There’s a lot to unpack there, so let’s just stick to the legals.
The claim was that the product was deliberately provocative and might damage Gaga’s reputation – an argument made, it should be noted, by a woman who had recently (one year earlier, in 2010) attended an awards show wearing a dress constructed entirely of raw meat.
The flavour did vanish from the menu, but not because of her. Westminster Council had already seized it for health-and-safety testing, and though the ice-cream was cleared a fortnight later (the woman who donated the milk was a registered milk donor and therefore in perfect health), the phrase “health and safety testing” does unhappy things to customers’ brains. Gaga got her result without ever needing to go all the way to court.
In 2015 she was embroiled in an ice-cream related battle again, this time against a maker called The Licktators and their “Royal Baby Gaga” flavour. This one didn’t contain any breast milk (despite what the name alluded). It was launched to mark the birth of Princess Charlotte. Gaga’s team sent a warning. This time the reply was less accommodating. The parlour declined to withdraw anything, noted that “gaga” is among the first sounds most babies make and can hardly belong to one pop star, and offered to send her some complimentary tubs of ice-cream “for chilling out to.” No lawsuit followed. Turns out it isn’t that easy to sue someone once they’ve offered you dessert.
Back to Patagonia
Set against a brewery that renamed its own founders, a wrestling empire outlasted by a panda, and a pop star defeated at least once by frozen dairy, the suit against Pattie Gonia is remarkable mostly for how little it actually wants. Patagonia is asking a court to mark the precise moment a fond tribute becomes a business – the line between borrowing a name out of love and registering it to sell things – and it’s asking as gently as a legal filing will allow.
Pattie Gonia is not a stranger to what Patagonia stands for. She hikes the same mountains, champions the same causes, and named herself, however cheekily, in the same direction. The company knows this, which is why the $1 lawsuit reads less like a demand and more like a hand on the shoulder: we love what you’re doing, truly – just not quite under our name, please.
Whether a court will see it that way is another matter. Trademark law, as we’ve seen, is not sentimental, and it has a habit of turning warm intentions into cold precedent. But of all the ways a billion-dollar brand could come after a drag queen in hiking boots, asking for a single dollar and admitting she shares your values might be the closest the genre gets to a love letter. Pattie will keep her heels. Patagonia will keep its logo. And somewhere between them sits a dollar nobody especially wants, marking the spot where two friends agree to each stay on their own side of the mountain.
About the author: Dominique Olivier
Dominique Olivier uses her love of storytelling and ideation to help brands solve problems.
Her first book, Lessons from Loss, has been published by Penguin Random House.
She is a weekly columnist in Ghost Mail and collaborates with The Finance Ghost on Ghost Mail Weekender, a Sunday publication designed to help you be more interesting.
Wish you could listen to Ghost Bites, not just read it? Subscribe to my YouTube channeland you’ll get regular highlights from Ghost Bites. It will always be on the website first, but I’ll do my best to release these daily or as close to daily as possible. I won’t be covering the Nibbles (including director dealings) in the video, so be sure to read as often as possible and to treat the audio as a backup!
In this edition of Ghost Bites:
Hudaco’s consumer-related products segment boosted the interim period
Signs of life at Optasia – but I’m waiting for detailed results
Supermarket Income REIT refinances £445 million in debt
Hudaco’s consumer-related products segment boosted the interim period (JSE: HDC)
And they have some serious headaches in discontinued operations to deal with
Hudaco’s results for the six months ended May tell a very different story in continuing operations vs. total operations. They’ve had a tough time in a couple of their business units, as described in detail by the company in a recent trading update.
The continuing operations look good at least, with turnover up 9.5% and operating profit up 11.2%. This tells us that margins expanded, which is always an encouraging sign. The interim dividend was 10% higher, so they’ve just managed to achieve double-digit growth.
The group generated operating cash flow of R478 million before taxes and finance expenses. The net borrowings sit at R654 million. The balance sheet is in decent shape overall, with plenty of headroom in existing facilities. They are also looking to reduce their borrowings over the remainder of this year (subject to any potential acquisitions).
In the segmental split, we find consumer-related products contributing 45% of group operating profit. From continuing operations, sales were up 2.7% and operating profit increased by 8.8%, so this is where you’ll find the most impressive positive move in margin.
The engineering consumables segment contributed 55% of group operating profit. Acquisitions were the major source of growth here, as the industrial side of South Africa remains a tough place to play. Turnover was up 15.3% and operating profit increased 19.3%, so there was some margin uplift here as well. But on a like-for-like basis, without acquisitions, turnover was up just 2.4% and operating profit only increased by 2.1%, so the mix effect of acquisitions drove the margin uplift. This isn’t nearly as good as the consumer-related products division, where margin uplift was more sustainable in nature.
The discontinued operations are the alternative energy business (a load shedding casualty) and the battery bay management and battery service business within Eternity Technologies (affected by the market entry of a competitor). They will need to try and get out of these businesses with the minimal amount of pain.
Ghost Bite: In the difficult industrials sector, a strong balance sheet is critical. Aside from the resilience that it brings, it also allows companies to take advantage of market conditions by acquiring other businesses at good prices. Let’s see how Hudaco handles the second half of the year.
Signs of life at Optasia – but I’m waiting for detailed results (JSE: OPA)
The margin mix needs to be understood properly
Optasia has been under plenty of pressure recently, as the airtime credit offering was simply switched off in Nigeria and nobody really seemed to notice. That’s not exactly evidence of a strong moat.
But then we finally saw some insider buying from the CEO, as well as the founding director (who had sold a big chunk to FirstRand (JSE: FSR) this year). To add to the bullishness, we now have an interim trading update that tells a much glossier story around the company than the share price would suggest.
Investors will now need to consider the underlying growth vs. how vulnerable the airtime credit business model appears to be.
In the six months ended June, Optasia generated 72% of revenue from the micro-financing solutions (MFS) business. I don’t think this reflects the sustainable mix, as the disastrous period for the airtime credit business would’ve artificially boosted this contribution from MFS.
Still, there’s clearly some resilience here, as Optasia managed revenue growth of between 50% and 60% for the period. Adjusted EBITDA growth was between 40% and 50%, with some surprising margin pressure clearly coming through there. It gets worse further down, where net income grew by between 30% and 40%.
Don’t get me wrong – these are strong growth rates obviously. But is the mix effect of airtime credit vs. MFS driving this weaker margin performance? And what does that mean for the future? It’s hard to know for sure until we get the detailed results in September.
Also, don’t underestimate how risky the underlying markets are. Optasia’s recent geographical expansion includes South Sudan. This country is literally a humanitarian catastrophe. On the plus side, they also expanded into Gabon, which is one of the wealthier African countries on a GDP per capita basis.
For the year ending December 2026, the company has reaffirmed guidance for revenue and adjusted EBITDA growth of over 30%. This includes a “prudent” assumption around the recovery of volumes in Nigeria. Normalised net income is expected to grow by between 25% and 35%.
As you can see from the chart, the combination of insider buying and this update has injected some life into this broken post-IPO story:
Ghost Bite: If nothing else, this is another reminder for those with trading portfolios that insider buying can be a strong signal. There’s a reason why I cover the director dealings every single day in Ghost Bites.
Supermarket Income REIT refinances £445 million in debt (JSE: SUPR)
This deals with all the facilities maturing in the next two years
At property companies, debt is a feature rather than a bug. They need debt in order to achieve decent return on equity for shareholders. The theory is that property is the ideal asset class to act as security for debt, making it easily available and a cost-effective source of finance.
Supermarket Income REIT (based in the UK) has refinanced £445 million in debt. This deals with four different facilities that were due to mature in the next two years. Rather than waiting until the last minute, companies will often refinance ahead of time.
A major strategic element of these refinancing transactions is the composition of the banking syndicate. Creating competitive tension among banks is one of the benefits of achieving scale. In addition to the four banks in the existing facilities, the company has now introduced two additional banking relationships.
Following this transaction, the company will have no debt maturing until 2028. The weighted average cost of debt is 4.4% and 98% of it is fixed or hedged. Compared to the replaced facilities, the new facilities deliver an annual interest cost saving of c.£0.3 million.
Separately, the company declared a quarterly dividend of 1.545 pence per ordinary share. The exchange rate for South African shareholders will be confirmed by 20 July.
Ghost Bite: As much as I love the intricate storytelling of equity, the world of corporate debt is also really interesting. I particularly enjoy all the different layers of a cake that make up a balance sheet, with a variety of debt structures that carry different costs and maturities.
Results of previous poll:
Nibbles:
Director dealings:
Sean Riskowitz of Protea Asset Management bought shares in Finbond (JSE: FGL) worth R59k
Mantengu (JSE: MTU) has renewed the cautionary announcement regarding the potential reverse takeover transaction with Averi Finance. Mantengu has appointed legal advisors for the due diligence, as a transaction of this nature (a combination of assets from both companies) requires a two-way due diligence.
I’m not sure what they are up to at Vunani (JSE: VUN), but they’ve appointed the ex-CEO of MTN Zambia to the board. The describe these ICT skills as “contributing significantly to the continued growth and strategic objectives of the company” – even though they don’t have any ICT assets. Interesting.
Combined Motor Holdings (JSE: CMH) has renewed the cautionary related to the potential acquisition of properties owned by directors.
Trustco (JSE: TTO) has updated the market on the timing to complete the Namibian and South African audits at subsidiary level. They expect this to be finalised in the fourth quarter of the year. Keep in mind that this relates to financials for the years ending August 2024 and August 2025, with the company suspended from trading and far behind on its financials.
Sail Mining Group (JSE: SGP) has been suspended from trading since mid-2022. They are hellishly behind on financial reporting, with audits in progress for the 2022 to 2024 financial years. They are looking to delist the company anyway. I’ll be interested to see if an offer to shareholders can be approved without recent financial information to work from.
South32 has entered into a binding conditional agreement to dispose of its global aluminium value chain to Alcoa, an American industrial corporation producing aluminum. The transaction, with an implied enterprise value of up to US$5,6 billion, will see Alcoa acquire South32’s interests in Worsley Alumina (86%), Hillside Aluminium (100%), MRN bauxite mine (33%), Brazil Alumina refinery (36%) and Brazil Aluminium smelter (40%). Excluded from the transaction is Mozal Aluminium which remains on care and maintenance. Alcoa will pay an upfront consideration of $3,1 billion, $1,08 billion in Alcoa shares, will assume $750 million in net debt and lease liabilities and pay a further $750 million if alumina and aluminium prices exceed agreed thresholds over the next four years. The divestment repositions South32 as a pure-play, upstream base metals producer predominantly in copper and zinc.
Labat Africa is to acquire an additional 24.45% stake in Classic International for a purchase consideration of R27 million to be settled through the issue of 900 million Labat shares at an issue price of R0,03 per share. The additional stake will result in Labat holding a 100% shareholding in the business. Classic provides high-performance computing hardware, AI-driven analytics capability and disruptive engineering solutions designed to improve operational efficiency in complex enterprise environments.
In terms of the proposed scheme of arrangement, Brikor will buy back a maximum of 116,1 million shares at 17 cents per share for an aggregate R19,7 million. The offer excludes Nikkel Trading 392 and the Brikor Share Incentive Scheme. The high costs of maintaining a public listing and the persistent illiquidity of its shares were cited as the primary reasons for its exit.
In April, Clientèle announced the proposed delisting of the company by way of a conditional offer effected through a pro rata repurchase of shares. The offer, in respect of no more than 36,261,776 offer shares at R19.90 per share closed this week with acceptances of 21,097,797 shares for an aggregate R419,85 million.
Vodacom has updated shareholders on its acquisition of an additional 20% stake in Safaricom announced in December 2025. Conditions precedent have been fulfilled and the acquisition is effective as of 30 June 2026.
The disposal agreement of the Arlington Property for a cash consideration of US$30 million announced by PPC in August 2025 has lapsed with the agreement becoming null and void. The disposal consideration did not occur by the extended longstop date of 30 June 2026. The property remains a non-core asset for the company.
Zeder Investments has extended the long stop date of its announced February 2026 disposal of Zaad to 30 November 2026 from the initial 31 July 2026.
Unlisted Companies
Differential Capital and its consortium of investors have taken an equity stake in the mining division of Murray and Roberts (in business rescue) for R1,27 billion. The business rescue plan was approved in April 2026, and the transaction was completed on 25 June 2026, securing the transfer of numerous local and foreign subsidiaries in South Africa, Canada, Australia, Portugal and Chile among others. The transaction has preserved 2,600 jobs and safeguards vital mining capabilities.
Strategic Transfer Solutions (STS), a global insurance and reinsurance broker, has acquired 100% of Aircraft Risk Company (ARC), an aviation brokerage, marking an expansion into the aviation specialist area. Beyond Africa, STS will scale its footprint into Europe, Latin America and Asia in which ARC will play a meaning role in its global strategy. For the meantime ARC will continue to operate under its existing brand.
Infra Impact Investment Managers (IIIM), through its Mid-Market Infrastructure Fund I, has acquired a minority shareholding in Cape Town Biogas, an organic waste processing facility. The stake was acquired from Metier Sustainable Capital Fund II, which remains the controlling investor. Cape Town Biogas utilises leading anaerobic digestion technology to process 250 tonnes of organic waste per day into three valuable outputs – Compressed Biomethane, Renewable Beverage-Grade Carbon Dioxide and valuable agricultural inputs.
Preference Capital has received a R350 million capital injection from Titan Premier Investments. Preference Capital supports businesses generating up to R1 billion in turnover, offering unsecured loans from R100,000 to R7 million and secured facilities to a maximum of R60 million.
Mauritian headquartered private equity firm Adena Partners has acquired a majority stake the Minet Group, a South African-based pan-African risk insurance adviser. Minet provides insurance brokerage, risk advisory, and employee benefits solutions to a diverse base of clients, including corporates, SMEs, and institutions across nine African countries. The stake was acquired from private equity investor Capitalworks. Financial details were undisclosed.
South African non-profit organisation Afrika Tikkun Group has disposed of its advisory, recruitment, training and placement company Afrika Tikkun Services. The disposal, to a consortium, will allow the Group to build and focus on its model for child and youth development. Afrika Tikkun Services will change its name to ATS and will operate independently under the new ownership. Financial details were not disclosed.
Maia Capital Partners has provided R150 million in mezzanine debt financing to Nesa Power, a commercial and industrial solar and battery storage developer. The funding will be used as growth capital to acquire solar photovoltaic project sites and expand Nesa’s portfolio of long-term power purchase agreements.
African International Schools network, Enko Education, has entered the East African market through the acquisition of Kitengela International Schools (KISC), a group of seven schools across three campuses in Kenya’s Kitengela region. KISC will retain its name, identity and day-to-day operations.
Fortress Real Estate has place 55,670,104 Fortress B shares representing c.4.5% of the company’s B ordinary share capital. The placement is by way of an accelerated bookbuild offering. The shares were placed at a price of R24.25 per B ordinary share representing a 1% discount to the 30-day VWAP of 29 June 2026. Proceeds will be used to advance the rollout of the SA and CEE logistics development pipeline and to capitalise on retail opportunities.
PKMI has announced that it intends to acquire up to 30 million MAS plc shares. Shareholders may offer all or part of their MAS shares. If the bid is fully accepted, PKMI’s shareholding in MAS will increase from 61.3% to 65.7%. Shareholders have until 3 July 2026 to offer their shares.
Pan African Resources will issue 102,641,421 new shares in the form of Pan African CDIs to Emmerson shareholders as settlement of the aggregate scheme consideration. The shares will be issued at £1.09 per share.
Suspended in July 2022, Sail Mining announced in December 2025 that it would make a conditional offer to repurchase, on a pro rata basis, all the company’s ordinary shares and would simultaneously terminate its listing on the AltX Board of the JSE. Shareholder approval is required – updates to follow in due course.
SAB Zenzele Kabili will pay shareholders a special dividend of 57 cents per share from income reserves. The dividend will be paid on 20 July 2026.
PBT will make a capital reduction distribution to shareholders of 18.5 cents from income reserves with a payment date of 20 July 2026.
The Capital Appreciation Empowerment Trust has disposed of 40 million Araxi shares in a block trade at R1.85 per share. The proceeds will be used to repay all its debt and leave the remaining assets, 35 million Araxi shares, unencumbered.
Sebata’s listing was suspended in October 2025 for failing to publish its audited financial results ended March 31, 2025, and interim results for the period ended 30 September 2025 within the prescribed period. The company has now published these results and expects the listing to be reinstated on the JSE on or before 31 July 2026.
The JSE has warned shareholders of Mantengu, Visual International, Brikor and Copper 360 that the companies have failed to submit their annual report within the four-month period as stipulated in the JSE Listing Requirements. The companies have until 31 July to submit their financials or face the possible suspension of their shares on the exchange.
This week the following companies announced the repurchase of shares:
Reinet Investments intends to purchase its ordinary shares at market value for an aggregate maximum amount of €500 million subject to a maximum of 16.5 million ordinary shares over a period up to the 2027 Annual General Meeting of the Company. The implementation will be through several successive and separate programmes and shares will not be cancelled. The Rupert family has declared its intention not to sell any shares during the duration of this Programme. This week Reinet acquired 399,415 shares on the JSE for an aggregate R185,54 million.
Sun International repurchased a total of 5,1 million ordinary shares representing 2% of the issued share capital of the company for a total consideration of R256 million. The shares were acquired at an average price of R50.08 per share.
Hammerson has repurchased 747 ordinary shares from MUFG Corporate Markets at 5 pence per share. The shares will be used to meet obligations arising from its employee share option schemes.
Equites Property Fund has proposed a specific share repurchase of up to 168,596 ordinary shares which will be subject to shareholder approval. The shares will be repurchased from participants of the company’s conditional share plan and will provide participants with a straightforward method of disposing of shares to settle tax liabilities due on vested shares without having to sell them on the open market.
The JSE has repurchased 1,105,477 shares, representing 1.28% of the company’s issued share capital. The shares were acquired over the period 5 to 24 June 2026 for an aggregate R175 million.
Aimia continued with its repurchase programme during June 2026, repurchasing on the open market 165,400 shares at an average $2.79 per share for a total settlement of $461,373.
To reduce the share capital of the company and return capital to shareholders, Quilter commenced, in March 2026, a £100 million share buyback programme. Repurchases to date total £40 million of which £32 million were conducted on the LSE and £8 million were conducted on the JSE. The maximum aggregate purchase price payable by the Company under Tranche 2 is up to C.£30 million. During the period 22 to 26 June 2026, Quilter repurchased 5,431,489 shares on the LSE with an aggregate value of £10,24 million and 1,350,160 shares on the JSE with an aggregate value of R55,40 million.
In June, Greencoat Renewables announced its intention to commence a second tranche of the repurchase programme which will return a further €25m of capital to shareholders, following the completion of the first tranche which is expected during July. The second tranche repurchase will be complete by end-December 2026. This week 1,147,193 shares were repurchased for an aggregate €842,952.
Bytes Technology announced in May 2026 its intention to implement a new share repurchase programme to purchase the company’s shares for an aggregate value of up to £25,0 million. This week the company repurchased 473,637 shares at an average price per share of £3.67 for an aggregate £1,74 million.
In December 2025, British American Tobacco extended its share buyback programme by a further £1.3 billion for 2026. The shares will be cancelled. Over the period 22 to 26 June 2026, the company repurchased a further 597,155 shares at an average price of £45.75 per share for an aggregate £27,52 million.
Ninety One plc announced an increase in the repurchase programme from £30 million to £55 million to be completed by 21 July 2026. The shares, to be purchased on the open market, will be cancelled to reduce the Company’s ordinary share capital. This week the company repurchased a further 1,154,489 ordinary shares at an average price 211 pence for an aggregate £2,44 million.
Anheuser-Busch InBev’s US$6 billion share buy-back programme continues. The shares acquired will be kept as treasury shares to fulfil future share delivery commitments under the group’s stock ownership plans. During the period 22 to 26 June 2026, the group repurchased 519,711 shares for €37,74 million.
During the period 22 to 26 June 2026, Prosus repurchased a further 2,508,852 Prosus shares for an aggregate €94,78 million and Naspers, a further 911,265 Naspers shares for a total consideration of R742,03 million.
Three companies issued profit warnings this week: Bell Equipment, Goldrush and Hudaco Industries.
Five companies issued or withdrew a cautionary notice: Labat Africa, Brikor, Trustco, Mantengu and Combined Motor Holdings.
Plug and Play has invested an undisclosed sum in Kenyan fintech, Lemonade Payments. The company builds modern, compliant infrastructure that makes sending, receiving, and settling payments across Africa faster, simpler, and more affordable.
The Government of Uganda has signed a €110,5 million (US$126,1 million) agreement with Standard Chartered Uganda, to help finance the construction of a road in the country’s northeast region. The road will be built in Karamoja, a remote region in Uganda’s northeast on the border with Kenya. According to the finance ministry, the road will also help support ongoing major investments in the region, including a $300 million cement factory and a $72 million international airport.
Centum Investment Company Plc has sold a 60% stake in Nabo Capital to Rock Investment Bank, cutting its holding to 40%. Nabo will cease to be a Centum subsidiary and become an associate company, with Rock joining as strategic shareholder to support growth in asset management, product expansion and distribution.
Adenia Partners has acquired a majority stake in Minet Group from Capitalworks for an undisclosed sum. Minet provides insurance brokerage, risk advisory, and employee benefits solutions to a diverse base of clients, including corporates, SMEs, and institutions across nine African countries: Botswana, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia. Prior to its acquisition by Capitalworks in 2017, Minet was part of Aon, the global insurance broker.
FSD Africa Investments announced a US$1,25 million commitment in iungo Capital, a lender that provides growth financing to small businesses across East Africa. The investment will strengthen iungo’s capital base, enabling it to borrow more and accelerate lending to businesses that struggle to access finance. Operating across Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda, and Tanzania, iungo provides US$-denominated loans of $250,000 on average in a first round, pairing capital with targeted technical assistance to strengthen business performance and support long-term growth.
Oxano Capital has invested in Uganda’s Delta Bee. Through its work with thousands of smallholder beekeepers, the company produces and processes high-quality honey and other bee products while creating sustainable income opportunities for rural communities. Delta Bee has built an integrated business model that combines farmer support, processing, manufacturing of beekeeping equipment, and market access, making it a key player in Uganda’s growing agribusiness sector. Terms of the investment were not disclosed.
Oyass Capital, a sub-fund of FONSIS (Sovereign Fund for Strategic Investments), has announced a CFA 1,3 billion investment in La Ripaille, a Senegalese poultry company. The funding is structured as equity and debt compliant with Sharia law.
African International Schools network, Enko Education, has entered the East African market through the acquisition of Kitengela International Schools (KISC), a group of seven school sections across three campuses in Kenya’s fast-growing Kitengela region. KISC will retain its name, identity, culture, leadership and day-to-day operations. Learners will continue with the same teachers, curricula and school culture.
Beltone Venture Capital, a subsidiary of Beltone Holding, is expanding its investment in Egyptian consumer brands ariika and Lychee. This comes as both companies prepare to grow their presence in Saudi Arabia. ariika, a direct-to-consumer digital-led home furnishing brand, will launch two stores in Riyadh as part of its Saudi expansion. The company already operates across Egypt and Iraq and views the Kingdom as a strategic market for its regional ambitions. Health food and beverage brand Lychee is also expanding into Riyadh with three new outlets. The company said it spent several years studying Saudi consumer preferences before moving forward with the rollout.
Côte d’Ivoire-based Afro Mobile is acquiring a 40% stake in Nigeria’s ISAT Group. The company is preparing to launch an ultra-fast internet service powered by 5G Stand Alone technology. Its aim is to provide high-speed connectivity accessible to all segments of African society, with a particular focus on rural and underserved communities. Afro Mobile also announced that its expansion program will rely on a US$3 billion financing package structured and mobilized by Equiline Finance, providing the capital required to support large-scale infrastructure deployment across multiple markets.
With effect from 1 May 2026, the Department of Trade, Industry, and Competition (DTIC) increased the mandatory merger thresholds and filing fees. It has been almost a decade since the merger thresholds and filing fees were last increased, in an investment climate marked by slow economic growth and regulatory hurdles.
In January 2026, the DTIC proposed new merger notification thresholds and filing fees for public comment. Following the public consultation process, the Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition, Mr Mpho Parks Tau, in consultation with the Competition Commission (Commission), formally amended the Determination of Merger Thresholds.
Since the previous merger thresholds were published in 2017, inflation and business growth have steadily eroded the thresholds filtering function, resulting in smaller transactions becoming notifiable. Consequently, parties to smaller and mid-market deals have borne the cost and delay of legal and economic analysis, filing fees, and protracted approval timelines, often in circumstances where no genuine competition concerns arise. Therefore, the question now is whether these increased thresholds will translate into a materially more efficient merger process, to the benefit of the Commission and transacting parties.
The higher thresholds should result in fewer mandatory notifications, thereby increasing the Commission’s capacity to focus its limited resources on mergers that raise substantive competition or public interest concerns, as well as larger transactions with greater potential to contribute to economic growth. For investors, this signals a meaningful effort to reduce unnecessary regulatory red tape whilst simultaneously safeguarding a competitive market. Coupled with the recent spate of positive initiatives aimed at fostering a more investor-friendly merger control regime in South Africa, including the various guidelines published to clarify the Commission’s approach to internal restructurings, indivisible transactions, and pre-merger consultations between the merger parties and authorities, this is a welcome step in the right direction for mergers and acquisitions in South Africa.
The final amended thresholds and filing fees are set out below. Notably, the target firm threshold for intermediate mergers was increased from the proposed R175m to R200m in the final gazette.
With the new thresholds now in force with effect from 1 May 2026, and having retrospective effect, dealmakers should immediately assess whether transactions in the pipeline are impacted. The retrospective application means that transactions which were entered into before 1 May 2026, but had not yet been notified to the Commission, must be assessed against the new, higher thresholds. In practical terms, this means that a transaction that would previously have triggered a mandatory notification under the former thresholds may now fall below the revised thresholds, with the result that the parties are no longer required to notify. This has the potential to deliver immediate and tangible benefits to transacting parties, both in terms of avoiding the costs associated with the merger filing process, including filing fees, legal and economic advisory fees, and in eliminating the delays inherent in awaiting regulatory approval.
While merger transactions notified after 1 May 2026, in respect of which no decision has yet been made, may technically be withdrawn if they fall below the revised thresholds, the position in practice may be less straightforward. It is possible that the Commission may take the view that it remains seized with the investigation of such matters, particularly where substantive assessment is already underway. Factors that may inform this approach include the administrative complexities associated with refunding filing fees already paid, as well as instances where the Commission has, during its investigation, identified genuine competition or public interest concerns warranting further scrutiny. Transacting parties in this position would have to engage with the Commission directly to obtain clarity on the matter.
Daryl Dingley and Dudu Mogapi are Partners and Gina Lodolo a Senior Associate | Webber Wentzel
This article first appeared in DealMakers, SA’s quarterly M&A publication.
South Africa’s healthcare system continues to face mounting pressure, with public hospitals stretched, and demand for post-acute and rehabilitation services steadily increasing. As the gap between capacity and need widens, private capital is playing a growing role in scaling essential healthcare infrastructure.
Alternative funding structures, including mezzanine debt, are increasingly used to support mid-market healthcare operators that require flexible growth capital without diluting ownership. In an environment where traditional bank funding may not fully support expansion pipelines, structured capital solutions are proving critical.
Against this backdrop, Tamela Mezzanine Debt Fund I’s investment in Nurture Health demonstrates how well-structured mezzanine funding can accelerate national healthcare expansion while delivering measurable financial and social returns.
In June 2021, Tamela supplied a mezzanine loan facility in support of Nurture Health’s expansion ambition: to become one of South Africa’s largest acute and sub-acute rehabilitation networks.
The group has since grown from 15 to 27 facilities across five provinces, increasing bed capacity to 312,440. This was the result of new facilities built in Alberton, Beacon Bay, Worcester and Montana; six facilities acquired as the result of a merger with a group that has presence in the Western Cape; and two facilities acquired through a 100% acquisition of a group based in Gauteng. A new 54-bed acute physical rehabilitation hospital will open in Mossel Bay in April 2026.
Nurture Health provides sub-acute, post-acute and transitional physical rehabilitation medical care for individuals recovering from injury and disease, as well as patients facing psychiatric and substance abuse challenges – services that are increasingly critical within the broader healthcare ecosystem.
The business was identified by Tamela as a high-quality, defensive growth opportunity in a resilient healthcare sector.
At the time of investment, Nurture Health had an established presence in South Africa’s physical rehabilitation market, with a clear development pipeline. The Tamela team saw growing demand for post-acute and sub-acute care, supported by a scalable platform capable of expanding access while maintaining strong clinical and governance standards.
The funding was structured as growth capital to accelerate new facility rollouts and upgrades, alongside senior debt and internally generated cash flows. Beyond capital, Tamela acted as an observer on the company’s Investment Committee, providing strategic oversight during the expansion phase, and ensuring disciplined capital allocation.
During the investment period, Nurture treated 10,856 patients and maintained a 4.6 out of 5 satisfaction rating from referring doctors and hospitals. Women represented 59% of patients, and the group worked with insurers and state injury funds to reduce financial barriers to access.
Employment impact was also significant, with the workforce growing to 761 employees, including 502 new hires since June 2021. Black women represent 45.2% of the workforce, while women hold 21.05% of leadership roles.
Tamela’s role was seen as key to the growth and development of the Nurture Care Group, firstly through the confidence it displayed by providing the significant funding required to implement the business’s plans.
Secondly, the experience and skill of the Tamela team helped grow the business’s own governance capability and invigorated its journey, transforming from an owner-managed business to a responsible and professional corporate citizen.
Nurture refinanced and repaid Tamela two years ahead of time, delivering returns above the Fund’s 18% target.
Tamela’s funding of Nurture Health is a clear example of how well-structured mezzanine capital can catalyse growth in essential service sectors while delivering measurable social impact.
Lungi Gwente is an Associate | Tamela
This article first appeared in Catalyst, DealMakers’ quarterly private equity publication.
Remgro finalises the Mediclinic restructure (JSE: REM)
They are now the 100% owner of Mediclinic Southern Africa
As you may recall, Remgro has been busy executing a transaction to swap the exposure to Mediclinic’s European operations (Hirslanden) for 100% ownership of the Southern African business.
This is because Remgro’s partner in the Mediclinic buyout, MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company, would prefer to own the European assets. Remgro is only too happy to be control the assets in a region they fully understand, so it makes sense for both parties.
The deal has now met all conditions precedent and has been implemented as of 1 July 2026.
They essentially did it as a straight swap that put a baseline value on each region of $950 million. With subsequent balance sheet adjustments, the prices ended up being $947 million for Mediclinic Southern Africa and $1.077 billion for Hirslanden.
Other than loan account movements, Remgro has received a dividend of $130 million to equalise the difference.
Ghost Bite: Focus is a good thing. I don’t think South African investors are overly interested in a Swiss hospital group, so Remgro can now focus on generating strong returns from the Southern Africa business that local investors do actually care about. But what do you think?
South32 gets out of the aluminium sector (JSE: S32)
This transaction makes a lot of sense
South32 certainly kept the wheels of SENS grinding on Wednesday. The company released no fewer than five announcements! A few of them are just administrative in nature, but there are a couple of big ones as well.
I’ll begin with the Sierra Gorda announcement, which confirms that the joint venture will invest in the fourth grinding line project. When this project is eventually commissioned in FY30, it will increase copper equivalent production by around 30% vs. current levels. They also expect a 10% reduction in average operating unit costs.
To get there, the joint venture needs to invest $275 million from FY27 to FY30, with an expected internal rate of return above 20% (subject to copper prices). The profit will be funded from operating free cash flow and joint venture debt facilities.
We then reach the bigger news, which is the sale of aluminium value chain assets to Alcoa for up to $5.6 billion. That’s a chunky number!
The assets in question include Worsley Alumina, Hillside Aluminium, the MRN bauxite mine, the Brazil Alumina refinery and the Brazil Aluminium smelter. Mozal Aluminium is excluded from the transaction, mainly as it is sitting in care and maintenance due to an inability to secure energy at a suitable cost.
Alcoa Corporation is a US-listed company that has deep pockets, so they can afford to part with $3.1 billion in up-front cash for the deal. They will also issue $1 billion in shares to South32. Alcoa will assume $750 million in debt and lease liabilities. Finally, there is a contingent cash consideration of up to $750 million based on alumina and aluminium prices until 2030.
The pricing implies a through-the-cycle EBITDA multiple of 6.8x and an annual average free cash flow multiple of 12.7x. That seems like a strong exit value.
This is a really important deal for South32, as it means that 85% of post-deal EBITDA will be from base and precious metals (copper / zinc / silver / lead). It gives them more balance sheet flexibility to invest in assets like the Taylor project and the aforementioned Sierra Gorda project.
The market certainly liked it, with the share price closing 11.3% higher on the day.
This coincides with the transition in the group CEO role, with Graham Kerr stepping down and Matt Daley taking the role. Daley certainly inherits a more focused strategy than before. The copper story will come through strongly in the next few years.
Ghost Bite: Mining is tricky for many reasons, with an ongoing choice between being a focused producer with choppy earnings vs. a more diversified player with smoother earnings (in theory). But when you have various core assets that need capital at the same time, you have to pick your battles.
Results of previous poll:
Nibbles:
Director dealings:
A non-executive director of ASP Isotopes (JSE: ISO) sold shares in the company worth over R10 million.
Three prescribed officers of Alexander Forbes (JSE: AFH) received share awards. Only one them elected partial cash settlement to settle the tax, with the other two choosing full cash settlement. This is equivalent to selling an entire share-based award. The total value across those two officers was nearly R8.8 million (including the taxable portion).
A non-executive director of Sibanye-Stillwater (JSE: SSW) bought shares worth R539k.
A director of a major subsidiary of Stefanutti Stocks (JSE: SSK) bought shares worth R157k.
Here’s an unusual one: an associate of the CEO of Spear REIT (JSE: SEA) sold shares worth R66k. His family has been a net buyer of shares for longer than anyone can remember. Perhaps this is just a blip.
If there’s one thing Afrimat (JSE: AFT) doesn’t need right now, it’s clerical sloppiness. I was very surprised to see that a director of the company had sold almost R81k worth of shares at these depressed prices. It turns out that the announcement was wrong and that the director had bought that many shares. That certainly makes more sense.
Riskowitz Capital Management recently sent Trustco (JSE: TTO) a Section 189 demand for a shareholders’ meeting. They want shareholders to consider the appointment of a new board of directors. Trustco had no choice but to comply, with the meeting scheduled for 18 August. This shareholder battle has been going on for ages now. Let’s see what happens this time.
Powerfleet (JSE: PWR) has announced a share buyback programme of up to $30 million. They will execute this over the next 24 months.
Primary Health Properties (JSE: PHP) has refinanced its debt with a new term loan and revolving credit facility to the value of £800 million. This will be used to partially refinance the £1 billion bridging facility obtained by the company to execute the Assura transaction in 2025. The credit margin on the new facilities varies by tranche, but will be on average 40 basis points cheaper than the debt being repaid.
In 2025, PPC (JSE: PPC) announced that they were selling land in Zimbabwe that is held by the company’s subsidiary in that country. With a price tag of $30 million, it would be a meaningful cash injection. Alas, despite efforts to save the deal by extending the long stop date, it has now lapsed due to the purchaser’s inability to make payment by the correct date. PPC will still look to sell this land, so new buyers are welcome!
The chairperson at Bytes Technology Group (JSE: BYI) is stepping down, having served in that role since the company listed in 2020. Gavin Rochussen will be the new chair, bringing experience in the asset management and family office space to the role. Bytes has been through a horrible period in recent years. Let’s hope things improve for them.
Shuka Minerals (JSE: SKA) announced another set of drilling results from the Kabwe Zinc Mine. As usual, it’s all Greek to anyone who isn’t a mining engineer or geologist. It seems like this was a deep hole that has given them a lot of information to plan further drilling. That sounds positive overall.
In the naughty corner with late submissions of annual reports, we find Mantengu (JSE: MTU), Visual International (JSE: VIS), Brikor (JSE: BIK) and Copper 360 (JSE: CPR). The JSE has fired a warning shot to these names. If they don’t release by the end of July, their listings may be suspended.
Kibo Energy (JSE: KBO) is also late with its financials under the AIM rules in London, but this is because they are negotiating terms for a potential reverse takeover transaction. They will update the market on timelines as soon as possible.
Absa’s Africa Regions segment is struggling with interest margin
Institutional investors were happy to throw money at Fortress Real Estate
Gemfields is being severely hurt by its ruby business
Harmony achieved production guidance in gold and copper
Hudaco had a poor interim period
PBT Holdings bucks the trend in consulting
Sun International’s recent growth is in line with guidance
Métier did the heavy lifting at Sephaku
Resilient REIT lives up to its name
Thungela was boosted by Transnet Freight Rail in this period
Absa’s Africa Regions segment is struggling with interest margin (JSE: ABG)
The credit loss ratio has helped, but watch that growth in expenses
Absa released a trading update for the six months to June 2026. We’ve now received updates from each of the four large legacy names in banking.
Absa managed low- to mid-single digit growth in revenue, with non-interest revenue (NIR) growing faster than net interest income (NII). That shape is what we are seeing across the sector, as NIR has been a focus area for banks due to its positive impact on Return on Equity (ROE).
The low-single digit growth in NII is a function of margin compression, with rates having come down in key African countries. Loans and deposits grew by mid-single digits.
On the NIR side, insurance and fee income in South Africa did well. Trading income had a strong first quarter and then slowed down, which is a bit of a surprise given the level of volatility we saw in the second quarter.
With operating expenses up by low- to mid-single digits, Absa’s cost-to-income ratio has moved the wrong way. This isn’t encouraging for margins, or for the value that investors are willing to put on Absa’s shares.
The credit loss ratio saved the day here, with flat impairments and thus an improved ratio. This transforms the weak performance in pre-provision operating profit into growth in headline earnings of mid- to high-single digits. It also means that ROE will be similar to the comparable period at 14.8%.
ROE for the full year is expected to be 15%, which is below the company’s expectations due to margin compression in Africa. The strong rand is also not helping their case when earnings are translated from African subsidiaries.
Ghost Bite: Absa is now underperforming Nedbank in 2026. The market wants to see expense growth below income growth, as the credit loss ratio isn’t a high quality way to achieve decent earnings growth. Nedbank has a tighter grip on expenses than Absa at the moment.
Institutional investors were happy to throw money at Fortress Real Estate (JSE: FFB)
And indeed, why not?
As expected, Fortress Real Estate had no trouble raising capital from the market. They initially planned to issue 52 million new shares. Thanks to the level of demand from institutional players, they upsized this to over 55.6 million shares.
Importantly, this was achieved at a discount of only 1% to the 30-day VWAP, so I can see why they happily increased the raise.
To give more context, this raise has increased the number of shares in issue by 4.5%. Fortress has raised R1.35 billion through this process, so that will give them more flexibility in the acquisition and development pipeline.
Ghost Bite: This is exactly why property funds enjoy being listed on the JSE. Being able to raise this kind of money overnight is genuinely incredible when you think about it.
Gemfields is being severely hurt by its ruby business (JSE: GML)
The CEO is out
Gemfields has been through an extremely tough period and things don’t seem to be getting any better.
The company is now parting ways with CEO Sean Gilbertson by mutual agreement. This is usually just a nice way of saying that they want to give someone else a try, with money changing hands to make that happen quickly. David Lovett is stepping up from CFO to interim CEO, having served as CFO for 8 years. Will that promotion stick? Time will tell.
This news accompanied ruby auction results that reflect total revenues of $23.1 million. This auction was in a new format that sits between mixed-quality auctions and the mini-auctions introduced in 2025. This is part of why auctions simply aren’t comparable, as the quality varies and so will the price per carat.
They sold 92.1% of lots offered for sale, which seems like a reasonable outcome.
The broader issues in the ruby business are a significant worry, with grades declining at MRM. The more favourable areas of the mine have been hard to access due to higher rainfall. There are also commissioning issues at the second processing plant.
Overall, these production issues are expected to have a “material adverse impact” on ruby auctions for the rest of the year. This was probably the final straw for the CEO, leading to his replacement.
To make things even worse for the ruby mine in Mozambique, there has been conflict at villages just 15 – 35km away from the mine. They also have a major problem with illegal mining. And as the icing on this terrible cake, they are owed $28.3 million in VAT refunds that aren’t coming through.
Ghost Bite: Mozambique is just a terrible place to do business. It’s as simple as that.
Harmony achieved production guidance in gold and copper (JSE: HAR)
Management is successfully controlling the controllables
Harmony Gold has met its gold production guidance for the 11th consecutive year. For a mining company, that kind of predictability is valuable in the market.
In a trading update for the year ended June 2026, the company also confirmed that they would meet guidance for their all-in sustaining cost in gold. Notably, capital expenditure has come in slightly below plan.
On the copper side, production is towards the upper end of guidance. This helped cash costs come in below guidance. This is the commodity that everybody is talking about of course, with Harmony investing heavily in copper.
The Eva Copper project in Australia is the asset of focus, with the project making considerable progress. There are some environmental hiccups though, with a protected species identified within the project area. They’ve been able to reprioritise workstreams for now, but this might end up causing delays.
Overall, it’s been a solid year of execution at Harmony. Management teams can’t control commodity prices, but they can control how successfully they mine those commodities.
Ghost Bite: Harmony’s share price is almost perfectly flat over 12 months. Commodity price volatility can make the mining sector a cruel place.
Hudaco had a poor interim period (JSE: HDC)
They are taking decisive action with two of their businesses
Hudaco released a trading statement dealing with the six months to May 2026. It’s not good news I’m afraid, with HEPS expected to fall by between 32% and 34%.
The company also reports comparable earnings per share, which strips out discontinued operations and fair value adjustments on vendor liabilities. In that case, earnings would be between 12% and 13% higher.
This tells you that the discontinued operations are a problem, with the announcement giving details on the two businesses that have now been classified as such.
The first is the alternative energy business, which has lost a tremendous amount of value since load shedding disappeared. That sector has become one big price war, leading to unattractive economics for Hudaco. They’ve recognised a R125 million impairment on their inventory. If you want energy backups, it sounds like Hudaco will sell you their products at clearance prices!
The second discontinued operation is the battery bay management and service business within Eternity Technologies. This is a low-margin business that provides products for forklifts, reminding us just how specialised things can get in the industrial sector. This is a particularly sad one, as 90% of the 245 staff members are being retrenched. Management blames the market entry of former staff members who had the support of a key supplier. Such is life in business.
Ghost Bite: This announcement came out after market close, so you can expect some fireworks in the Hudaco share price on Tuesday.
PBT Holdings bucks the trend in consulting (JSE: PBT)
These are good numbers
PBT Holdings released results for the year ended March 2026. The consultancy group put in a solid performance, with revenue up 6.0% and operating profit up 8.3%.
This looks like a solid top-line performance at a time in the world when tough questions are being asked about consulting business models. The group’s efficiency initiatives decreased operating expenses by 9.9%, driving strong improvements to margins alongside the revenue growth.
HEPS was especially impressive with 17.6% growth, but the group also reports normalised HEPS (a safer metric) with 10.8% growth.
The only blemish was cash generated from operations, which dipped by 6.6%. Operating cash can experience these swings based on the exact timing of working capital movements.
The total dividend for the year was up 8.1%.
Ghost Bite: This has been a solid stock over the past 12 months, with a total return of 22% thanks to the high dividend yield.
Sun International’s recent growth is in line with guidance (JSE: SUI)
That’s a good outcome, given the broader disruptions in the world
Sun International hosted a Capital Markets Day in March this year, so the company has nailed its colours to the mast in terms of growth targets and strategy. I always appreciate this, as it allows the market to accurately measure the performance of management.
With interim results due in September, Sun International has provided a brief update on trading performance for the six months to June 2026. Revenue is the only metric covered at this stage, with growth of 6% being in line with guidance.
They’ve also been repurchasing shares, having picked up 2% of issued share capital in the market at an average price of R50.08 per share. The current price is R54, up nearly 40% year-to-date!
Ghost Bite: The casino business has been having a tough time, but there’s more to Sun International than just the traditional casinos. The resorts etc. seem to have done well despite all the disruptions to travel costs from the Middle East conflict.
Métier did the heavy lifting at Sephaku (JSE: SEP)
It’s nice to see the South African operations on the up
Sephaku Holdings reported results for the year ended March 2026.
The financials can be complicated to interpret, as SepCem is accounted for as an associate. In simple terms, this means that Sepcem’s results are brought in as a single line on the income statement, with the detailed line-by-line numbers reflecting Métier as the 100%-owned subsidiary. In other words, if you look at group revenue for example, all you’re actually seeing is Métier.
Group HEPS increased by 20.3% to 37.91 cents. This was firmly thanks to Métier, where net profit after tax increased from R76 million to R107 million as EBITDA margin expanded. SepCem was a drag on performance, with profit down from R43 million to R25 million.
Ghost Bite: The share price has tracked earnings growth, with an increase of 23% over the past 12 months.
Resilient REIT lives up to its name (JSE: RES)
They still expect 9% growth in FY26
Resilient REIT has provided a pre-close update for the six months to June 2026.
In South Africa, retail sales were up by 3.3% for the five months ended May 2026. That’s lighter than we’ve seen at competing funds in South Africa, but Resilient has been busy with major development initiatives at six of its shopping centres. In that context, this is a decent performance.
Reversions were positive 3.2% in South Africa, with escalations agreed at 5.2%. This is the kind of inflation protection that investors are looking for.
In Europe, retail sales at the Spanish property increased by 5.1% for the five months to May. The French portfolio grew 5.0%, a solid performance that is well ahead of the macroeconomic story in the country.
Overall, guidance of at least 9% growth in the distribution for FY26 has been reaffirmed. Shareholders won’t complain about that.
Ghost Bite: The REIT sector is delivering solid growth at the moment, particularly where funds are invested in retail portfolios.
Thungela was boosted by Transnet Freight Rail in this period (JSE: TGA)
No, you didn’t just hallucinate that sentence
Thungela released a pre-close update dealing with the six months to June 2026. During the period, coal prices moved largely in line with the shape of oil and gas prices. In other words, prices rose in response to the Middle East conflict and then moderated.
The Richards Bay benchmark price has lagged the Newcastle benchmark price though, mainly due to weaker buying by Indian customers over the period. An interesting feature of the coal market is that the price will vary depending on where you are shipping from and who the end customers are.
With 6.3Mt of production in South Africa vs. only 2.0Mt at Ensham in Australia, the Richards Bay price is more important to Thungela. It’s a pity that it lagged, but realised prices were still 12% higher (in USD) than the comparable interim period. Alas, thanks to exchange rate movements, the rand price per tonne has actually been identical to the comparable interim period!
This leaves them reliant on export saleable production volumes in South Africa, expected to be slightly down at 6.3Mt vs. 6.4Mt in the comparable interim period. This puts the FOB cost per export tonne slightly above the guided range, as muted production volumes will always lead to higher costs per unit. They expect this to improve in the second half.
There’s one more very important factor: the performance of Transnet Freight Rail. Producing the stuff is one thing, but getting it to the ports is quite another. Thankfully, improvements in rail performance helped Thungela achieve an increase in export sales from 6.6Mt to 7.5Mt.
How lovely is it to read about Transnet actually helping the sector?
At Ensham, export saleable production jumped from 1.6Mt to 2.0Mt. Costs per tonne have come in lower than guidance. Although full-year guidance has been maintained on both production and costs, it’s clearly a strong start to the year in Australia.
On the capital expenditure side, South Africa is expected to be at R600 million for the interim period (R500 million sustaining and R100 million expansionary). Ensham needed R250 million in sustaining capital expenditure during this period. Full year guidance has been affirmed for capex for both countries.
Ghost Bite: The market didn’t love this update, with Thungela down 7.5% on the day. This takes the total return over 12 months to only 11%. Cyclical stocks are tough. I’m just happy to see that Transnet was a positive contributor in this period!
Results of previous poll:
Nibbles:
Director dealings:
One of the founding directors of Discovery (JSE: DSY), Barry Swartzberg, entered into a hedge over R92.5 million worth of shares. This takes the form of a put option with a strike price of R171.23. The current price is R264 per share. There’s no call option, so this is purely downside risk protection. Separately, Adrian Gore had to sell shares worth around R62 million as his hedge matured and call options were triggered. Like Swartzberg, Gore has now entered into a structure that only has downside protection (in his case, at R199.76 per share). Gore’s new hedge is over shares worth around R200 million.
A director of Richemont (JSE: CFR) sold share awards worth R41 million. The announcements never even tell you the name of the director, let alone whether this is only the taxable portion or not.
A director of Sibanye-Stillwater (JSE: SSW) bought shares worth R7.4 million.
Here’s a nice bullish sign for a stock that has been under pressure: a director of Clicks (JSE: CLS) bought shares worth just under R3 million.
A director of Trematon (JSE: TMT) bought shares worth R104k. A different director of the company sold shares worth R135k.
With the Afrimat (JSE: AFT) share price in the toilet, it’s not helpful that a director has flushed some of his shares away. It might only be a sale worth R81k, but I would far prefer seeing insider buying rather than selling.
Vodacom (JSE: VOD) has deepened its exposure to Africa. At the end of 2025, they announced that they wanted to acquire a further 20% in Safaricom in Kenya. It’s taken around six months to get the deal done, with all conditions having now been met. This has allowed Vodacom to acquire 15% in Safaricom from the Government of Kenya and 5% from Vodafone International. The company expects to update the market on medium-term targets before the end of July.
Labat Africa (JSE: LAB) is moving ahead with the acquisition of a further 24.45% in Classic International. This will take them to a 100% stake in this technology distribution company. They are paying R27 million for this stake, a number that still makes absolutely no sense in the context of Classic’s profit after tax for the year ended February 2026 of R115.1 million. Labat is basically buying it on a P/E of 1x! They are paying for the acquisition with shares issued at R0.03 per share. Labat remains one of the true mysteries on the JSE. They desperately need to get on with explaining the strategy to the market if they want this share price to reflect the underlying value that appears to be there.
Financial results at Nictus (JSE: NCS) only get a mention down in the Nibbles on an otherwise very busy day of news. That’s a pity, as this small cap achieved HEPS growth of 84% for the year ended March 2026! This was despite a decline in revenue of 17.7%. The dividend per share has jumped by 50%. Nictus isn’t as small as it used to be, with the market cap at R160 million after the share price climbed 45% in the past year.
Acsion (JSE: ACS) is another name that only gets a passing mention down here today. For the year ended February 2026, revenue was up by 7% and HEPS increased by 23%. The discount to net asset value (NAV) in the share price remains enormous, with a NAV per share of R32.27 vs. the share price at R9.00!
Salungano (JSE: SLG) ends up in the Nibbles as well due to low liquidity in the stock. For the year ended March 2026, they saw a substantial jump in EBITDA of over R300 million despite revenue increasing by only R100 million. The magic happened in gross profit, which was up by around R300 million – an increase that carried through into EBITDA. HEPS increased spectacularly from 2.62 cents to 50.85 cents.
After selling its specialty chemicals company, Aimia (JSE: AIM) has used roughly half of the proceeds to repurchase Senior Notes worth $131.4 million. The remaining $137 million will be used for share repurchases, working capital and potential investments.
Shuka Minerals (JSE: SKA) is still in the exploration phase, so their financial statements don’t reflect any revenue. It’s completely normal to see losses in this phase, with the operating loss having come in at £884k for the year ended December 2025.
Kore Potash (JSE: KP2) is still flirting with potential buyers of the company. At one point there was only one party still interested, but a second party joined the fray in June. Competitive tension is critical in a process like this.
Zeder’s (JSE: ZED) disposal of Zaad is taking longer than expected thanks to regulatory approvals. This is a common issue in large transactions. To allow for this, the long stop date has been extended to 30 November 2026.
Sebata Holdings (JSE: SEB) has been catching up on its financial reporting. They’ve now released their interims for the six months to September 2025, reflecting a swing from a headline loss per share of 0.13 cents to positive HEPS of 3.26 cents. The company can now apply to the JSE for the lifting of its suspension, with the FY26 results needing to be released soon as well.
In case you’re following Rex Trueform (JSE: RTO) or related company African and Overseas Enterprises (JSE: AOO), then be aware that the service level agreement with GMS (the CEO’s entity) is being renewed. This is obviously a related party deal that is accompanied by a fairness opinion by an independent expert.
ACOF, the best part of Africa Bitcoin Corporation, is making progress
Decent growth at Argent Industrial
Fortress taps the market for capital
Goldrush battles disruption from online gambling
Invicta could do with a boost from South Africa
Lighthouse Properties is doing well in Europe
Prosus has grown free cash flow significantly
SA Corporate Real Estate is generating real growth for investors
ACOF, the best part of Africa Bitcoin Corporation, is making progress (JSE: BAC | JSE: BACC)
They are plugging an important gap for SMEs
I’ve made no secret of my appreciation of what they are trying to build at the Altvest Credit Opportunities Fund. Access to funding is critical for SMEs in South Africa. The banks really aren’t great at lending into this space, so any effort to address that should be applauded.
The rates need to be high due to the default risk, with the ACOF book running at an average of prime+7.8%. But for an SME that needs inventory or a shop fit-out, the potential returns are vastly higher than this effective interest rate. This is why a lack of access to funding can be so frustrating.
In an update for the quarter ended May 2026, ACOF confirmed that their average loan size is R6.2 million and that they currently have 45 funded SMEs. Alongside the average term of 43 months, that gives you an idea of how they operate.
There’s no shortage of demand for loans at these levels, with the fund reducing its cash balance from R156 million to R80 million based on deployments. They cannot possibly achieve profitability without having a large book out there working for them and earning a return, so deployments are key.
The outstanding loan book balance at 31 May 2026 was R338 million.
The provision for bad debts is 3.77% of the current loan book, an improvement from 4.12% as at February 2026. This shows you why the interest rates need to be higher than secured consumer debt. ACOF needs to cover the credit losses, the cost of its funding (e.g. its DMTN programme) and its operating expenses.
The security coverage ratio across the loan book is between 1.5x and 2.6x. Even at ACOF, it’s very hard to borrow money as an entrepreneur if you don’t have assets as security. Skin in the game is critical.
And in other news from the group, Africa Bitcoin Corporation (the holding company) is pursuing a listing on the Aquis Growth Market in London. They are calling all pockets in terms of potential access to capital.
Ghost Bite: ACOF is the part of the group that I think is most interesting. I just hope they can scale to profitability in time.
Decent growth at Argent Industrial (JSE: ART)
But they could do with more leverage
Argent Industrial’s results for the year ended March 2026 reflect decent growth overall. Revenue was up 7.7%, EBITDA was good for 9.5% growth and HEPS increased by 9.1%. Dividend per share growth crept into the double digits, up 11%.
It’s a good outcome for shareholders, but there’s not much leverage in a business that only grows HEPS by 9.1% based on revenue growth of 7.7%.
The modest level of debt also results in return on equity of just 14.2%, which doesn’t feel exciting enough for this industry.
Looking at the segmentals, the Manufacturing area of the business achieved revenue growth of 11.9% and profit before tax growth of 16.6%.
This strong performance was dragged down by the Steel Trading segment, which saw revenue fall by a nasty 20%. This was severe enough to put that segment in a loss-making position of R11 million (vs. profit of R6. million in the prior year).
From a geographical perspective, the group’s South African operations grew profit before tax by 8.3%. The local operations contribute only 27% of group profit before tax, showing you the extent to which Argent has built offshore operations. The offshore business grew profit before tax by 13.3%.
Argent’s share price has jumped by 35% in the past year, giving shareholders a total return (including dividends) of 41%.
Ghost Bite: On a P/E of 6.8x, Argent Industrial is one of the many South African companies that is trading at a low multiple. The earnings growth looks fine in that context. They have a particularly strong balance sheet that could probably absorb more risk, so let’s see what route they take going forwards.
Fortress taps the market for capital (JSE: FFB)
They want to fund their development pipeline
Fortress Real Estate announced an accelerated bookbuild of approximately 52 million new shares, or 4.3% of shares in issue. This would raise around R1.3 billion at current share prices, with the pricing of the bookbuild to be established through the process run by the bookrunners.
This is one of those invite-only capital raises, so only institutional investors would’ve received their phone calls and emails on Monday evening.
The capital isn’t needed for a specific acquisition. Instead, Fortress is looking to bulk up its war chest for a variety of purposes. This includes expansion of the South African retail portfolio, as well as development of the logistics portfolio in South Africa as well as Central and Eastern Europe.
They have a development pipeline of roughly R5.2 billion. They plan to execute over the next three to five years. The non-core portfolio that they are looking to dispose of is worth around R2.5 billion. This leaves a hole that needs to be plugged through a combination of equity and debt.
Ghost Bite: It’s a pretty sound rationale, as the idea is to have the cash available to prevent rushed sales of non-core assets to fund the development pipeline. I can’t fault that. I’m quite sure that Fortress will have no problem raising the funding.
Goldrush battles disruption from online gambling (JSE: GRSP)
How important will the lottery licence be for this group?
Goldrush released results for the year ended March 2026. Revenue was flat and HEPS dropped sharply from 141.91 cents to 54.47 cents. The group reported a swing in fortunes from an operating profit of R243 million to an operating loss of R425 million.
Importantly, cash generated from operations was R287 million. This is down 27% year-on-year due to the investment required in equipment on behalf of Sizekhaya, the consortium that won the South African lottery licence.
The group is still generating cash, but earnings have clearly moved in the wrong direction.
The proliferation of online gambling is to blame here, with immense competition to attract customers on their smartphones. This has changed the game in this market, as licence holders in the brick-and-mortar space (like bingo halls etc.) cannot rely on sensible geographical exclusivity to compete.
A good analogy would be the pharmacy industry, if online pharmacy suddenly became prolific. Community and traditional pharmacy groups would find themselves competing against online behemoths with marketing budgets that benefit from scale and entirely different margins. You can imagine how that would end.
Goldrush’s shareholder letter has the kind of transparency that you won’t usually see in corporate settings, with a detailed explanation of how online betting has impacted the industry in recent years. The management team acknowledges that this has reduced the value of all gambling licences, including theirs.
The bigger question of course is around where things will settle. Management quotes a statistic that 69% of gambling revenue is now online, with land-based options scrambling for the remaining 31%. Land-based won’t go to zero, but just how low might it go over time?
Goldrush has an online business which grew revenue by 22% to R292 million. The problem is that total group income was R1.95 billion, so online is a small part of the overall story.
The lottery will be an important defensive underpin for the group in years to come. Although there is still a legal challenge around the award of the licence, previous court judgments have been favourable for Sizekhaya (and thus Goldrush).
Ghost Bite: There’s all to play for, literally. The lottery infrastructure has been put in place ahead of time and below budget, so that’s a good sign. The 2027 financial year is going to be critical for Goldrush, as the economics of the lottery licence should become visible to the market (for better or worse).
Invicta could do with a boost from South Africa (JSE: IVT)
The pressure on local industry is permeating many value chains
Invicta is one of those positions in my portfolio that I’ve learnt to just leave alone to do its thing. With a total return over 3 years of 45%, the group is doing a great job of delivering returns.
This doesn’t mean that every period looks good, with HEPS up by just 1% for the year ended March 2026. Importantly, the group reports sustainable HEPS growth of 7%.
Naturally, any management-specific view on earnings should be treated with caution. Invicta gives a thorough breakdown of the adjustments to arrive at sustainable HEPS, many of which relate to accounting adjustments on acquisitions and asset disposals.
Despite the growth in sustainable HEPS, this will go down as a tough year for Invicta. Revenue was up just 4%, which was nowhere near enough to offset the 10% increase in expenses. Operating profit fell by 9% and EBITDA was down 7%.
Digging into the segmental performance, the Industrial Solutions and Parts segment saw revenue dip by 1.7% and sustainable operating profit before forex movements fall by 10%. Return on net operating assets came down sharply from 19.3% to 16.5%. With 77% of revenue generated in South Africa, the general pressure on the local economy in areas like steel has filtered through to Invicta.
At Capital Equipment and Parts, revenue jumped by 19.1%, yet sustainable operating profit before forex movements dipped by 2.5%. Return on net operating assets also declined slightly from 15.7% to 14.5%. This business only generates 52% of its revenue from South Africa.
As is usually the case, Invicta has been busy with various acquisitions and disposals. The big one in this period was the acquisition of Spaldings in the UK for £10.5 million.
Ghost Bite: Invicta trades on a mid-single digit P/E. Nobody is expecting them to generate double-digit growth in HEPS. It would certainly be nice to see the local situation in South Africa improve and boost Invicta, but I’ll let management allocate my small amount of capital in this stock accordingly.
Lighthouse Properties is doing well in Europe (JSE: LTE)
France has been a particular highlight of recent trading
Lighthouse Properties released a pre-close update for the six months to June 2026. This is a European-focused fund, so get ready to read about places you would probably want to visit on holiday.
The update uses the numbers for the first quarter of the year (i.e. to March 2026), which are quite outdated. I guess it’s better than nothing.
For that quarter, tenant sales were up by 7.9% and footfall was up 2.4%. Vacancies were just 1.4%. This is what a successful retail portfolio looks like.
Spain led the way with sales growth of 8.6% for the quarter, an acceleration from 5.9% in FY25. Next up was Portugal at 7.0%, admittedly a slowdown vs. 8.2% in FY25. Even France showed strong growth of 6.5%, a significant jump from just 2.3% in FY25.
The performance in France isn’t because of the macroeconomic environment in that country. In fact, it’s despite the macro story. Lighthouse got some important leases across the line, achieving solid growth in income despite the vacancy rate sitting at 5.7% (by far the highest in the portfolio).
Lighthouse has reaffirmed the FY26 distribution guidance of 2.95 EUR cents per share, which implies anticipated growth of 6.9% vs. FY25.
Ghost Bite: I’m sure Des de Beer can’t wait to buy more shares once the interim results are released!
Prosus has grown free cash flow significantly (JSE: PRX)
And at Naspers (JSE: NPN), Takealot achieved its maiden profit
Prosus is the name that the group seems to be focusing on, so I’ll spend most of my energy there as well.
These results must be read against the backdrop of the Tencent share price having shed a third of its value year-to-date in USD terms, dragging Prosus (and Naspers) down with it.
To break this strong correlation, Prosus needs to convince the market that there is material value in the rest of the group.
Group revenue jumped by 57%, but acquisitions played a major role here. Strip them out and you’ll find 12% growth in revenue in local currency. That’s not exactly eye-watering growth, sadly.
Thankfully, the benefit of having moved through the inflection point for profitability is being seen at adjusted EBITDA level. This metric was up 44% in local currency (excluding acquisitions). This is the hockey stick that investors often talk about in platform businesses.
Another critical metric is free cash flow, coming in at $1.5 billion including the Tencent dividend. If you take out that dividend, the rest of the group generated free cash flow of $275 million vs. just $18 million in FY25. That’s an encouraging sign for investors in the group (like me).
The challenge Prosus faces is that the Latam ecosystem is dealing with immense competition, so they need to up the marketing spend to maintain their market position. This doesn’t do great things for short-term profitability, so look out for that in the next period.
In Europe, they took on the brave task of trying to turn Just Eat Takeaway.com (JET) into a growth asset in a region that is practically allergic to innovation. After shrinking for four years before the Prosus acquisition, JET is expected to return to revenue growth by the end of the year. Europe is also where you’ll find the OLX classifieds business, a solid contributor in terms of adjusted EBITDA margins (up 800 basis points to 48%).
In China, Tencent is dealing with the difficulties plaguing many tech assets at the moment: concerns around AI.
AI is core to the entire group these days, with Prosus working hard to convince the market that this is going to create value across the ecosystems. Time will tell.
Looking at Naspers, which is basically Prosus plus some rats and mice, Takealot grew revenue by 18% in local currency. Takealot achieved their first-ever annual profit, showing you just how long it takes to scale to profitability. With Amazon starting to scale in South Africa, I am not convinced that annual profits are guaranteed at Takealot.
Ghost Bite: I remain long here, as Prosus plugs an important gap in my portfolio around ex-US tech. But they certainly aren’t immune to the intoxicating mix of AI threats and opportunities that are a feature of the global tech sector.
SA Corporate Real Estate is generating real growth for investors (JSE: SAC)
Part of the portfolio is buy-to-let at scale – and it’s working
SA Corporate Real Estate has delivered a pre-close update for the six months ending June 2026. They use April 2026 metrics where appropriate, as the period obviously hasn’t ended yet.
Overall, distributable income per share is expected to increase by between 6% and 7% for the interim period. For the full year, they expect growth of between 5% and 7%.
In the retail portfolio, vacancies have ticked up from 2.3% to 2.9%. Reversions are expected to be positive 1.5%, up from 1.1% in December 2025. Rolling 12-month trading density is a concern, down from 6.2% in December 2025 to 4.8% in April 2026. The vacancy rate needs to be managed carefully as well.
On the industrial side, they have no vacancies at all. This isn’t unheard of in the industrial space, particularly when a portfolio is focused on large buildings and tenants. The challenge is that this creates a lumpy profile, so vacancies can hit hard if they do come through. For now though, the fund enjoys a fully-let portfolio.
In residential, the vacancy rate is down from 3.6% to an anticipated 3.1% by June. They expect to achieve rental increases of 4.3% vs. 4% in December 2025. This is the opposite to the industrial portfolio in terms of lumpiness, as a residential portfolio is split across many tenants.
In Zambia, improved performance at the Arcades Mall means that the fund expects 7% growth in the distributable income from that country (measured in USD).
On the balance sheet, the loan-to-value (LTV) has come down from 42.1% in December 2025 to 41.8% in April 2026. There are no further debt expiries this year. 68.3% of the debt is hedged at a tenor of 2.9 years.
Asset disposals are focused on the residential portfolio, with R709 million in transfers year-to-date. Another R743 million will transfer by the end of July, with a further R182 million in conditional disposals this year. They are selling the properties at a 32.7% premium to book and a 63.3% premium to acquisition price!
They are also looking to development opportunities, so don’t make the mistake of thinking this is one-way traffic in terms of disposals.
Ghost Bite: SA Corporate Real Estate s up 15% over 12 months. The total return including dividends is 24%. Do the maths and compare this to that buy-to-let investment that you felt was such a good idea. I’ll stick to buying REITs, thanks!
Results of previous poll:
Nibbles:
Director dealings:
Here’s an interesting one: the founder of Optasia (JSE: OPA), Bassim Haidar, got back on the bid for the shares. With the share price under immense pressure, he bought shares worth R23.7 million at a VWAP of R14.24 per share. You may recall that he previously sold R1.5 billion in shares at R20 per share! The CEO of the company joined him on the bid, buying shares worth R7.3 million. Will it be enough to stop the falling knife? Optasia is down 31% year-to-date.
The CEO of AVI (JSE: AVI) was awarded shares in the company and sold the whole lot for R15.9 million.
Acting through Titan Fincap Solutions, Dr Christo Wiese bought another R4.3 million worth of Brait Exchangeable Bonds (JSE: BIHLEB). This is relevant to holders of Brait ordinary shares (JSE: BAT).
Most of the director dealing at Ninety One (JSE: NY1 | JSE: N91) happens in the form of employee trusts. In an unusual example, a director and his associate bought shares worth roughly R2.1 million.
An independent non-executive director of Nedbank (JSE: NED) sold shares worth R38k.
MAS (JSE: MSP) announced that PKMI Limited is looking to increase its controlling stake in the company. PKMI has launched a bid to shareholders to acquire up to 30 million MAS shares. If successful, this would increase the stake from 61.3% to 65.7%.
Heriot REIT (JSE: HET) got the green light from shareholders for the issuance of shares to related parties. This allows them to move ahead with the Heriot family injecting more assets into the REIT.
In case you understand what it means when a mineralised interval consists primarily of blebby to disseminated bornite and chalcopyrite in norite, then be aware that Orion Minerals (JSE: ORN) has released more drilling results. The non-geologists among us just skip through to the CEO commentary, where Tony Lennox seems very happy with the drilling results from the Okiep Copper Project.
As the chairman of Raubex (JSE: RBX) is the ex-CEO of the group and thus not deemed to be independent, the company needs a Lead Independent Director. Setshego Bogatsu is stepping down from that role (having been in it since 2022), with Nosisa Fubu named as her replacement.
I’m not sure if we can read much into this at Numeral (JSE: XII), but the company has appointed a non-executive director who has extensive experience in industrial assets in South Africa. Perhaps that’s a clue as to their future plans?
Trustco (JSE: TTO) has renewed the cautionary announcement related to its potential delisting. This has been going on for a while now.
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