Horizontal Count on Afrimat
Afrimat was originally a construction company which specialised in the supply of what are known as “aggregates†to the road-building industry. With the collapse of the construction industry following the 2010 Soccer World Cup, Afrimat set about re-inventing itself to become a mining company. The decision to rely less on the road-building industry has paid handsome dividends. It began with the acquisition of the
The Foschini Group
The Foschini Group (TFG) has done things that other clothing retailers have apparently been unable to do. The retail trade in South Africa has been beset by low consumer spending and fierce competition from overseas brands like Cotton On. Large iconic brands like Edgars are teetering on the edge of bankruptcy and yet TFG seems to be able to continue growing its sales and profitability. The retail clothing business is extremely
Transaction Capital
Transaction Capital (TCP) describes itself as “an active investor in and operator of credit-orientated alternative assets”. This is a fancy way of saying that it goes where no one else dares to go in the new South Africa. It has made highly profitable businesses out of financing and servicing the burgeoning mini-bus taxi industry and also out of buying up high-risk debtors' books for a fraction of their
FirstRand
FirstRand (FSR) is a company listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE), well renowned and highly favoured by big institutions because of its large volumes (trading daily on average 1.3 million shares per day) and its quality management. It operates in 10 African countries, and has platforms in Africa, Asia and Europe. It also has representative offices in Dubai and Shanghai, as well as a branch in India. The company
Learning from Steinhoff
The Steinhoff debacle, which really came to an end on Wednesday when they published their re-stated financial results for the 2017 year (reported in Business Day of 9th May 2019), contains some vital lessons for private investors.
The financials reveal a web of companies which were used by a group of unscrupulous executives to move money around, overstate profits and obscure fraudulent
Ease of Management
One of the most important issues when selecting a share for investment is to try and assess how easy the business is to run. Some businesses are very easy to run, while others face enormous difficulties. When you are considering whether to add a particular share to your portfolio you should try to place on a scale from easiest to hardest. The hardest businesses to run are those which:
- Require huge capital investments