PDSNET Market Snapshot

Orion Minerals (ORN) is an Australian exploration company which is listed on the JSE (September 2017) and on the Australian Stock Exchange in Sydney. It is trying to find funding for its copper and zinc mine in Prieska. The Prieska mine was previously operated by Anglovaal, but stopped operating in 1990 after 20 years during which it extracted more than 1 million tons of zinc and 430 000 tons of copper concentrate.

The main problem with the mine is flooding. Orion hopes to exploit this resource with a mechanised approach and minimum labour. Vedanta Resources which runs the Gamsberg mine next to Orion's resource is looking at building a smelter that could service all the mines in the area and even resources from Namibia.

Once construction begins on the Prieska mine, they will need to pump out nearly 9 million cubic meters of water from the existing structure. Production is expected to begin in 2024. Mining exploration is probably one of the riskiest investments on the JSE. At 30th September 2023 the company had $15,74m in cash.

On 17th April 2024 the company asked for a halt on the trading in its shares because of a "...material announcement on exploration results at Okiep copper mine." On 22nd April 2024 the company announced a "Spectacular High-Grade Copper Intercept at Okiep Copper Project, Flat Mines Area 49m at 4.89% Cu including 10.23m at 12.47% Cu." This caused the share price to jump from 19c to 24c. Investors should be very careful of this loss-making penny stock and maintain a strict stop-loss level.

On 25th June 2024 the company requested an immediate stop to trading in its shares pending an announcement. On 28th August 2024 the company announced that it had been granted a key water use licence for the Okiep copper mine. In its results for the six months to 31st December 2025 the company reported an operating loss of A$6,42m which equated to a headline loss per share of A$0,06c.  The company said, "Finance income of AUD2.44 million, principally related to interest receivable on the Company's investment in preference shares issued to the Company (through its subsidiary Agama Exploration & Mining (Pty) Ltd by Prieska Resources Pty (Ltd).

The operating loss for the previous corresponding period reflected an unrealised foreign exchange loss of AUD0.48 million and exploration expenditure of AUD2.44 million". On 8th July 2025 the company announced that it had issued 522m shares at 1,1c each to raise R67m. In our view, this is a volatile penny stock engaged in a particularly risky venture, but it has speculative potential.

On 3rd April 2025 the company announced that Errol Smart would step down as CEO and be replaced by Anthony Lennox with immediate effect. 

African Rainbow Minerals (ARI) is a diversified mining company controlled by Patrice Motsepe, involved in a variety of mining ventures. Its interests include platinum group metals (PGM), iron ore, manganese, chrome, coal and copper. It also owns 12,2% of Harmony Gold. There has been some speculation about a possible acquisition.

One possibility is an involvement in the Wafi-Golpu copper and gold resource which is jointly owned by Harmony and Australian mining company, NewcreSt. Harmony is looking for help in financing its share of the development cost of this massive resource - which is estimated at around R21bn - so maybe ARM could be part of that solution. The company is looking for acquisitions of "green metals" mines that produce metals used in the move to avert climate change.

In its results for the six months to 31st December 2025 the company reported headline earnings per share (HEPS) of 866c compared with 775c in the previous period. The company said, "US Dollar Platinum Group Metals (PGM) basket prices at Two Rivers and Modikwa Mines increased by 44% and 47%, respectively". Technically, the share has been going up since April 2025.

We think that this is a good mining share which is gaining stability from its diversification into base metals - but it remains risky and volatile. On 12th June 2025 the company announced a "collar" options agreement consisting of a put option on 18m Harmony shares at 23485c per share and a call option for the same number of shares at 56240c.

The purpose of the agreement was to increase the company's available liquidity, taking advantage of the rising US dollar price of gold. In recent months the share has again been rising on higher commodity prices. It remains volatile.

Grindrod (GND) is an international freight and financial services company which operates in twenty-eight countries. In mid-June 2018, Grindrod unbundled and separately listed its loss-making shipping division (Grinship - GSH). This accounts for the "cliff" in the share price at that time.

The company is now focused on its two remaining divisions - freight and financial services. Grindrod owns the North-South railway line from Beitbridge to Victoria Falls as well as port terminals at Richards Bay, Natal, Walvis Bay, Namibia, and Maputo. The company is positive on the growth of its financial services division which is about 30% of the business.

The company is focused on getting its retail banking division involved with small and medium sized businesses. The conflict in northern Mozambique is a problem for this share. The flooding in Natal caused five of their sites to be suspended for several weeks. On 6th November 2024 the company reported that it had closed down all its rail, port and terminal operations in Mozambique because of the closure of the Lebombo border post due to violence on the Mozambique side.

A few days later on 8th November 2024, the company reported that the restrictions at Lebombo had been lifted - but the event showed Grindrod's vulnerability and exposure to unrest in Mozambique. In its results for the year to 31st December 2025 the company reported port volumes up 6% and headline earnings per share (HEPS) of 176,5c.

The company said, "Our Port and Terminals operations stood out during the year, with Maputo port delivering record volumes of 32.0 million tonnes per annum (mtpa). This performance was underpinned by Matola terminal achieving a record 9.9 mtpa and MPDC operated terminal achieving record volumes of 15.2 mtpa.

Terminal operations have improved, notably reducing vessel turnaround time and increasing capacity through continuous improvement initiatives". Technically, the share has been rising since February 2022. It has recently completed a reverse "head-and-shoulders" formation in August 2025 - which is very bullish.

It has taken a knock from the war in Iran, but should recover as that situation becomes clearer. We expect the share to continue to perform well despite being volatile. 

Stadio (SDO) is a tertiary education institution that offers a wide range of post-school training. The company offers higher education through five universities offering higher certificates, degrees, masters, and PhD qualifications. It currently has over 46 000 students enrolled in 6 faculties offering more than 50 accredited training programmes.

86% of these student study online. The company has a vision of having 100 000 students, most of whom are expected to be distance learning students. In its results for the six months to 30th June 2025 the company reported revenue up 16% and headline earnings per share (HEPS) up 28%.

Student numbers increased by 8% to 54487. The company said, "...results for the six months ended 30 June 2025, showcasing strong financial performance and robust cash generation, positioning itself well for the opening of the new comprehensive STADIO Durbanville campus in early 2026." In a trading statement for the year to 31st December 2025 the company estimated that HEPS would increase by between 17,1% and 27,3%.

We added SDO to the Winning Shares List (WSL) on 29th June 2024 at 525c. It has since moved up to 1168c. We believe that Stadio has a great future based on the general ineffectiveness of government tertiary education in South Africa. At current prices, and following their results, Stadio has been in a strong upward trend despite a recent sell-off.

We are bullish on its prospects. 

Sanlam (SLM) is one of the largest insurance and financial services groups in South Africa. It was established in 1918 and demutualised in 1998 and then listed on the JSE and the Namibian Stock Exchange. It has operations in South Africa, the UK, America, Europe, India, and Australia as well as a range of other African countries.

Its product range includes general insurance, life insurance, asset management, banking, credit, health and bancassurance. The business has four essential elements: 1. Sanlam Investment Holdings (SIH) - now 25% owned by African Rainbow Capital 2. Sanlam Emerging markets - which includes its 84,5% interest in Saham 3.

Sanlam Personal Finance 4. Santam - in which it owns 61% Outside of South Africa, it has operations in 11 other African countries and Malaysia. Saham has operations in 33 French-speaking countries with 3000 staff members operating out of 700 branches offering a similar product mix to Sanlam.

Sanlam also owns 26% of Shriram which is a leading provider of insurance products and financial services in India. It also made a deal to acquire 69% of Catalyst Fund Managers, a Cape-based manager of listed property assets and 100% of an Irish company, CIG Fund Management. About 50% of Sanlam's profits come from its personal finance operation which is primarily based inside South Africa.

It is therefore impacted by the low levels of consumer spending in this country as well as the economic recession. Sanlam is 18% black-owned and has initiated a partnership with African Rainbow Capital (ARC) in which it intends to focus on lower- and middle-income consumers and small companies.

Sanlam will provide R2bn of seed capital. In its results for the six months to 30th June 2025 the company reported headline earnings per share (HEPS) down 2%. The company said the fall in HEPS was "...due to the 2024 results benefiting from higher positive investment variances and partial recognition of the non-cash Capitec reinsurance recapture fee.

Attributable earnings per share was also impacted by lower gains from disposal of subsidiaries and associates relative to 2024. Group new business volumes increased by 7% to R218 billion." In a trading statement for the year to 31st December 2025 the company estimated that HEPS would fall by between 15% and 25%.

The company said, "HEPS contracted largely due to the corporate activity and structural changes in 2024 and 2025, as well as negative investment variances in 2025, primarily driven by unfavourable movements at the long end of the yield curve relative to the strong gains recorded in 2024". Business Day reports that Sanlam's growth in the 9 months to 30th September 2025 was good in most areas. Financials services were up 19% and new business volumes were up 13%.

Cash inflows were up almost 100% and new business in life insurance rose by 6%.  Sanlam is one of the JSE's foremost blue-chip shares with a history of steady growth over a long period of time. After recovering somewhat from the fall in markets due to Trump's tariffs it is currently trading on a P:E of 9.99.

We consider it to be good value at these levels.