PDSNET Market Snapshot

Reunert (RLO) is a company involved in electrical appliances, electrical engineering, and information communications. The company has been in existence for 130 years and listed for 70 years. It has operations in Australia and Sweden as well as in Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Lesotho. It exports to many countries around the world.

Electrical engineering accounts for roughly half of its annual turnover which is about R10bn. In its results for the year to 30th September 2025 the company reported revenue down 2% and headline earnings per share (HEPS) down 5%. The company said, "In South Africa, the Group's businesses demonstrated good resilience, retained market share, controlled costs well and generated strong cash flows, all of which reflect the strength of the Reunert investment case and the quality of the Group's assets.

Good strategic progress was made by the Group in increasing its presence in international markets and optimising the Group's portfolio". In a trading statement for the six months to 31st March 2026 the company estimated that HEPS would fall by between 16% and 21%. The share trades on a P:E of 11,27 which looks reasonably priced to us.

However, its future performance will depend on the rand/US dollar exchange rate, a recovery in the South African economy and increased business from government and quasi-government organisations. Technically, the share has been falling since November 2024 and we advised waiting for it to break up through its downward trendline.

That happened in August 2025 and the share has been trending up since then. We expect it to continue performing well.  

Tharisa (THA) is a mining company that mines and beneficiates platinum group metals (PGMs) and chrome. The company is listed in London and on the JSE. The Tharisa mine on the south-west limb of the Bushveld Igneous Complex (BIC) is an open pit operation with an estimated life of 17 years.

The company owns a subsidiary, Arxo Metals, which beneficiates chrome to produce high-grade chrome concentrates. The company is planning to expand into the Great Dyke area of Zimbabwe. In our view, this is one of the best mining investments on the JSE with a cost of production which is well below current metals prices and some good options for expansion.

The company has been involved in the Vulcan Plant which will improve chrome recovery to 82% from 65% and cost $54,2m. The target is to reach 200 000 ounces of PGM's (platinum group metals) and 2m tons of chrome ore production using a proprietary technology. The open pit operation is relatively low cost and does not have the problems associated with underground operations.

The company is planning to build a 5MW furnace that will enable it to produce iron alloys which are rich in platinum group metals and would sell for a far better price. In its results for the year to 30th September 2025 the company reported PGM production down 4,7% and revenue down 16,4%.

Headline earnings per share (HEPS) fell by 2,1%. The company said, "Chrome production at 1 558.2 kt (2024: 1 702.6 kt). Average metallurgical grade chrome concentrate prices of USD266/t (2024: USD299/t) PGM production at 138.3 koz (2024: 145.1 koz). Average PGM basket price increased by 18.6% with average prices received at USD1 615/oz (2024: USD1 362/oz).

Group cash on hand of USD175.1 million." In a production update for the 3 months to 31st December 2025 the company reported PGM recoveries at 78,8% and Chrome recoveries at 70,3%. 6E PGM production was down 6,1% and chrome production was down 14,2%, but the average PGM price received was up 13,1%.

The company said, "While output was softer at the start of the year, leading indicators across the business are trending positively, particularly in mining, where recoveries have begun to improve following weather and sequencing-related impacts experienced during the quarter." In a production update for the 3 months to 31st March 2026 the company reported 6E PGM ounces produced down 11,6% and chrome concentrates produced up 15,6%.

The average PGM price rose 37,6% to $3038 from the previous quarter's $2208. The company said, "While reef mined was lower in the quarter due to in-pit constraints, processing throughput remained strong with improved chrome feed grades supporting higher chrome concentrate production.

PGM production was impacted by lower grades in the reef being mined, although recoveries remained robust". In a trading statement for the six months to 31st March 2026 the company estimated that HEPS would increase by between 455,2% and 472,4%. Technically, the share is well traded.

The share had been falling since July 2024 due to declining commodity prices, but broke up through its falling trendline on 29th May 2025 at 1588c. It has since moved up to 2840c (14-5-26). The share remains a risky commodity counter dependent on the international prices of the commodities which it produces. 

Shaftesbury Capital is a real estate investment trust (REIT) which invests in properties in London's West End including Covent Garden, Carnaby, Chinatown and Fitzrovia. It has a property portfolio worth GBP4,9bn and 2,9m square feet of lettable space in 2000 buildings. The share is listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and on the JSE.

The share is obviously a rand hedge, but it has been on a protracted downward trend. In its results for the year to 31st December 2025 the company reported, "EPRA NTA increased by 7.2 per cent to 214.7 pence per share delivering total accounting return of 9.1 per cent - Portfolio valuation increased by 6.6 per cent like-for-like to £5.4 billion".

The company's loan-to-value (LTV) was 16,8% - which is very low. Headline earnings per share (HEPS came in at 3,3 pence compared with 3,4 pence i the previous period. In an update on the four months to 30th April 2026 the company reported a loan-to-value (LTV) of just 17%. The company said, "There is continued customer demand for our properties with high occupancy across the portfolio.

Only 2.5 per cent of ERV is available to let and an additional 1.2 per cent currently under offer". Technically, the share was in a downward trend since July 2025. We recommend waiting for it to break convincingly up through its downward trendline before investigating further.   

Nutun (previously Transaction Capital - TCP) is a company which has two divisions - minibus taxis and risk services. It has unbundled and separately listed WeBuyCars (WBC). Its subsidiary, SA Taxi, specialises in financing, repairing, insuring and selling minibus taxis in South Africa.

It completely dominates the entire value chain associated with the minibus taxi industry. The company listed in June 2012 and until 2023, the company generated an annual compound growth in earnings per share of 21% since 2014. That ended abruptly in 2023 when the company revealed that it had to make a R1,8bn provision for bad debts in its minibus taxi division.

About 69% of South African households use taxis with more than 15m trips per day. Most of this is non-discretionary - which means that this industry tends to be defensive and not generally impacted by the state of the economy at large. The South African Taxi Council (Santaco) acquired a 25% stake in SA Taxi for R1,7bn in 2018 which is benefiting both parties.

The company is also involved in debt-collection in South Africa and Australia through Transaction Capital Risk Services (TCRS). Following the impact of COVID19, the taxi industry has suffered from a perfect storm of rising interest rates, rising fuel costs and lower consumer spending resulting in a massive increase in TCP's bad debt provision.

The average taxi owner was unable to afford to make repayments of around R6000 a month in the face of steep increases in the fuel price, rising interest rates and declining commuter traffic. The result was that SA Taxi stopped financing and buying as many as 600 new Toyota minibuses a month and was reduced to selling between 180 and 200 refurbished taxis.

The company was owed about R17bn by taxi owners most of whom were behind on their repayments. In its results for the year to 30th September 2025 the company reported revenue down 3% and a headline loss of R309m compared with a loss of 2,37bn in the previous period. The company said, "Operating costs decreased by 5%, excluding a R39m gain on a foreign currency hedge, despite restructuring costs during the year as a result of ongoing cost optimisation." In a trading statement for the six months to 31st March 2026 the company estimated that it would make a headline loss of between 7,5c and 8,6c per share compared with a loss of 15,6c in the previous period.

The company said, "Earnings were adversely affected by Rand strength and accelerated amortisation driven by forward looking macro- economic assumptions including an elevated interest rate forecast relative to our expectations". In our view, the share remains risky and difficult to assess. Much now depends on growth in the South African economy following the elections and the appointment of the GNU.

The jump in the fuel price following the Iran war is bound to negatively impact this company. 

Universal Partners (UPL) is an investment holding company with a primary listing in Mauritius and a secondary listing on the Alt-X of the JSE. It listed in 2013 and has made five investments: (1) Dentex Healthcare Group, which owns 56 dental practices in the UK; (2) Yasa, a distributor of controllers for high power density electric motors.

This company was sold to Mercedes Benz for GBP42,8m. (3) SC Lowy, a market-maker in distressed and high-yield debt especially in Asia; (4) Propelair, a supplier of water-efficient toilets in the UK; (5) JSA Services, a provider of personal service companies, payroll and umbrella services to temporary workers in the UK.

In its results for the six months to 31st December 2025 the company reported net asset value (NAV) at 2609c (ZAR) - down from the 2816c reported a year ago. The headline loss per share was 1,19 pence compared with a loss of 9,58 pence in the previous period. In an update on the 3 months to 31st March 2026 the company reported a net asset value (NAV) of 2634c per share - down from the previous year's figure of 2795c.

The headline loss came in at 0,18 pence per share and improvement on the previous year's loss of 2,28p. This share is far too thinly traded to be of interest to private investors.