Which stocks to buy in 2018

For those who prefer their investments to involve actual assets, 2018 is looking better than 2017. Here we take a sector-by-sector look at how the FM portfolio’s picks fared last year, and offer our picks for the current year.

SMALL CAPS

The Financial Mail’s small-cap portfolio scraped an underwhelming total return (dividends included) of around 2% in 2017.

This is the second year in a row that the small-cap portfolio has produced modest returns — at least compared to previous years, when total returns had a tad more shine.

The biggest bruises in terms of pain to the portfolio were chemicals group Rolfes, broadcasting conglomerate eMedia Holdings and small financial services counter Purple Group.

Fortunately we did not pick Consolidated Infrastructure (CIL) — the "celebrated" small-cap casualty of 2017 — or fast-food franchiser Taste Holdings.

The top small-cap performers over 2017 were mostly obscure or overlooked counters – including lithium miner Tawana Resources (up more than 300%), alternative energy group Montauk (up more than 200%) and small business lender Ecsponent (up more than 175%).

In terms of mainstream appeal there were strong performances from poultry group Astral Foods (up more than 100%), container leasing specialist Trencor, as well as fleet management companies MiX Telematics and Cartrack (both up more than 80%). Our best pick was small financial services counter Vunani, which increased by 56% with the dividend thrown in.

With the pressure of two consecutive years of underperformance hanging heavily over proceedings, the Financial Mail’s small-cap portfolio for 2018 caused many a sleepless night over the new year period.

In the end we have opted for a sturdy value underpin with dividend flows and a smaller element of higher risk/higher growth tilts.

Here are our 10 stocks for 2018.

• Howden: It’s difficult to fathom exactly why this perennially profitable industrial services business, which has not paid a dividend since 2013, is hoarding so much cash. Something must give at Howden in 2018, and if a sizeable acquisition can’t be bagged then surely the cash needs to be mobilised to buy back shares or make a special distribution. Who knows, maybe US-based parent company Colfax might even think it’s an opportune time to pitch a buyout offer to minority shareholders.

• Value Group: This no-frills logistics business has endured a setback or two over the long term but always succeeds in getting its wheels out of the ruts. Cash flows are solid, management runs a tight ship and operations are geared to race ahead if the economy picks up pace. Margins might be enhanced by a stronger rand’s influence on the fuel price.

• Long4Life*: After this company clinched the important and transformative Holdsport deal, the market seemed to lose some of its enthusiasm for dealmaking doyen Brian Joffe’s new investment vehicle. It’s early days but a pattern is already emerging, with Long4Life building a presence in selected niches where decent margins can be sustained. There should be brisk deal flows ahead as well as a maiden dividend.

• Capital Appreciation*: The market has maintained a sceptical gaze on this "fintech" business. But the surprise interim dividend declaration suggests executives are confident that the assemblage of fintech operations is capable of generating sustainable cash flows. There is also still plenty of cash left in the kitty to pursue further fintech opportunities.

• Wescoal: The coal miner is building up a head of steam and there could be more opportunities for corporate action. The share has been on the back foot of late but sentiment should firm when Wescoal posts results that show the enlarged business is capable of churning out steady profits.

• Stellar Capital Partners: This is a pure value play with the share price discounting the underlying investments by around 50%. There are some structural issues to sort out this year — but there is some attraction in buying quality assets like fund manager Prescient and security specialist Amecor at bargain-basement prices. Of course, the sooner listed industrial investment Torre finds operational traction (or a suitor) the better for Stellar …

• Sea Harvest: If the proposed Viking deal can be landed then this iconic fishing business will become the dominant player in the local hake sector. Sea Harvest is well managed, holds an enviable brand and has the ability to earn large chunks of hard currency.

• Premier Fishing & Brands: The company has probably underwhelmed on the deal-making front, having only bagged a squid operation since listing last March. But Premier seems happy to bide its time, focusing on expanding its abalone farming operations. Deals will certainly come Premier’s way in the run-up to the 2020 fishing rights awards. Meanwhile, sufficient profits will be netted to allow the company to dangle a juicy dividend.

• AdvTech: It was a toss-up between AdvTech and newly listed Stadio Holdings for exposure to the burgeoning private-education sector. AdvTech has noted a few challenges in its core schools division — but its well-diversified tertiary education bouquet should continue to achieve top marks in 2018. The recent markdown in the share price offers a great opportunity to buy a quality business with highly regarded education brands.

• Brainworks*: Our "long-shot" share for 2018, Brainworks offers exposure to casinos, hotels, real estate and financial services in Zimbabwe … where we hope the new regime has realised the importance of new investment to drive economic growth that can pull the country out of the mire. - Marc Hasenfuss

*The writer holds shares in these companies.

ALTX

In terms of the number of listings, the AltX — the JSE’s alternative exchange for smaller companies — remains the largest sector on the bourse.

But performance-wise the AltX was nothing to write home about in 2017, losing about 15% of its collective value. Larger AltX companies such as asset manager Anchor, day hospital specialist Advanced Health and UK-focused investment counter Universal Partners did not enjoy strong share price showings in 2017. What’s more, the year-end rally in the rand did not help offshore investment company Astoria.

Aside from attracting a substantial new listing in the form of "fourth industrial revolution" specialist 4Sight Holdings, the AltX did nothing to alter perceptions of it being the "Cinderella of the JSE".

The truth, though, is that these days the AltX is a curious mix of larger investment and real-estate counters that stand in contrast to an array of small ventures that honestly don’t (yet) illicit much market interest.

It seems likely that the larger investment counters and property companies will sooner rather than later earn promotion to the JSE’s main board. Last year the AltX lost one of its biggest listings when media-aligned investment company Tiso Blackstar (which owns the Financial Mail) transferred to the main board. And BSi Steel, an AltX stalwart, looks set to depart the scene after proposing a buyout scheme that will trigger a delisting.

Companies such as financial services hub Vunani and services conglomerate Workforce, as well as technology specialists ISA Holdings and SilverBridge, would do their shareholders a huge favour if they pushed for promotion to the JSE’s main board.

But, sadly, many of the smaller counters scattered around the JSE have not got a snowball’s chance of earning promotion to the main board any time soon. In fact, just surviving this year might be an immediate goal for some stricken AltX counters.

While the AltX does not, at face value, present an abundance of companies with exciting growth prospects, it is worthwhile sifting through the listings. Renergen, Alaris, Vunani, Accentuate and the Financial Mail’s pick, Ansys, are at interesting junctures and will be worth monitoring closely in 2018. - Marc Hasenfuss

BANKS

Thanks to Cyril Ramaphosa’s victory at the ANC elective conference, banks are again hot property, having soared in the days after his election. The December rally meant that the banks index gained 24.04% last year.

While Capitec continued its gravity-defying run (up 58% last year), Standard Bank (up 29%) and FirstRand (up 28%) performed well too. The laggards were Nedbank and Barclays Africa.

Barclays Africa, our stock pick for 2018, climbed only 7.9% last year. It also lagged behind its peers in 2016, rising 17.6% while the wider banks index climbed 27% from its post-"Nenegate" low. In part, this underperformance was due to concerns over how British parent Barclays Plc would go about selling down its majority stake in the SA bank. This uncertainty left the stock looking relatively cheap.

Barclays Africa is now trading at a lower p:e ratio and higher dividend yield than its peers. A multinational bank in single-digit p:e territory is not something to scoff at — especially as its forward p:e ratio for the next two years is also lower than those of its rivals.

True, Barclays Africa has disappointed before — but 2018 will be different. Barclays Plc has already sold down its stake, which removes the uncertainty. It means Barclays Africa — or Absa — can now chart its own course, unfettered by a parent that in all likelihood didn’t "get" the local market. The bank will have to work hard to win back lost customers, particularly with Discovery Bank entering the fray. But expect it to fly higher. - Hanna Ziady

CONSTRUCTION AND BUILDING

WBHO is our construction and building hot stock for 2018. This is driven by buoyant market sentiment in Australia, which provides 58% of company revenue.

The group’s building and civil engineering division delivered record revenue at solid margins in the year to June 2017, while the roads and earthworks division doubled its order book, despite fierce competition. The latter’s performance points to improved trading profit growth next year as its margins are typically better than those in building and construction.

Like Murray & Roberts, Group Five and Aveng, WBHO draws substantial revenue from abroad these days, offsetting the dreadful state of SA’s economy. But commodities markets have not been kind, and this has hampered operations in the Asia-Pacific region — especially in Australia, which makes up about 70% of the firm’s order book.

However, where oil and gas projects have declined, Australian infrastructure projects are booming. As in SA, WBHO is positioned as a master developer of urban projects, including offices and infrastructure.

Where Aveng, for example, has taken a knock in fortunes, WBHO has grittily moved on. The booming skylines of Sandton and Rosebank show WBHO is at the centre of SA’s building sector. It also has potential work in the UK since acquiring 40% of a London-based concrete frame contractor. - Mark Allix

HEALTH CARE AND HOSPITALS

They’re touted as "defensive" stocks, resilient amid ructions in the economy. But the sad truth is that SA’s biggest listed hospital groups were anything but defensive in 2017. Life Healthcare was down 14.9%; Mediclinic dropped 18.2%; and Netcare outdid them both with a negative 21% showing, earning it the spot of third-worst performer on the JSE’s top 40 index after Impala Platinum and the train wreck of Steinhoff.

Netcare seems to have bungled its UK foray and in 2017 was forced to write off close to R6bn against BMI Healthcare. Life Healthcare stumped up R10.5bn for UK group Alliance Medical, despite failing to show returns for its purchases in Poland and India. And Mediclinic is experiencing indigestion as it absorbs the Abu Dhabi Al Noor business, for which it paid £1.5bn in 2015.

So why consider any of these? For a start, all three firms have rerated considerably since their 2015 highs, Netcare most justifiably so. But in the case of Life Healthcare and Mediclinic, both shares may be cheaper than their present p:e ratios of 33 and 20.8 suggest. If you strip out the one-off costs associated with their recent acquisitions, their p:e ratios are set to drop to about 15 times earnings — a historically decent fee for both firms.

Our pick is Mediclinic. Since it hit a low of R91 in November, its share price appears to be surfing what technical analysts call "higher lows" — a positive sign. If it can scale R107/share, it will trigger a technical buy signal and could head back to R188. - Giulietta Talevi

ENERGY COMPANIES

While the global energy sector was dominated in 2017 by the electric vehicle revolution, SA’s energy sector was preoccupied by revelations of misgovernance at Eskom.

Apart from the risks that Eskom’s mismanagement presented to the fiscus, decision-making appeared to be paralysed. Eskom continued to refuse to sign purchase agreements with independent renewable power producers. Companies like last year’s hot stock pick, Consolidated Infrastructure Group, which was geared up for work in the renewables sector, were hard hit.

Prices of energy commodities including oil, gas and coal firmed on global demand but analysts continue to forecast limited growth for fossil fuels.

SA’s only listed upstream and downstream fuels group, Sasol, could not benefit fully from dollar prices because of a firming rand. As its 10-year geared black empowerment scheme, Sasol Inzalo, matured, the only benefit to participants was an opportunity to roll over into the next scheme.

Afriforesight predicts oil prices in the next few months will continue to be supported by Middle East tensions and increasing demand while uranium is rising on production cuts and improved sentiment. Thermal coal has gained on short-term supply and demand factors but prices are likely to drop at the end of the northern hemisphere winter. Our energy pick is AECI. - Charlotte Mathews

FOOD AND BEVERAGES

It was Astral all the way in 2017, as sharply lower maize and soya feed costs and higher broiler prices combined to double its net profit and drive its share price 107% higher.

Also putting on a strong showing was arguably the most dependable company in the food sector, AVI.

In what was an extremely challenging environment, AVI lifted its revenue by 8.2%, its operating profit by 10.7% and its headline earnings by 9.4% in its year to June.

The market rewarded AVI by hoisting its share price 21.2% to a record high.

It was also a good year for Tiger Brands, which ended 2017 with its price rising 12% to a new record.

Under Lawrence MacDougall, CEO since March 2016, Tiger has found new direction and vigour, which is reflected in a 14.6% rise in operating profit in its year to September.

A disappointing showing was put in by rival Pioneer Foods, which was the Financial Mail’s 2017 stock pick. Its share price ended the year 19% down. Having found itself on the wrong side of a maize price hedging position, its net profit in its year to September slumped 50%.

Nevertheless, because of its potential to stage a very strong profit recovery in its current financial year, we are defying the once-bitten, twice-shy rule and are going with Pioneer again, as our sector pick for 2018. - Stafford Thomas

FINANCIAL SERVICES

Last year was a torrid one for financial stocks. The JSE’s general financial index ended the year 3.15% weaker, dragged down by Brait’s 52% slide, and a fall of 6% in the JSE Ltd and 10% from Alexander Forbes. Coronation eked out a 4.8% gain, while Investec fell 1%. The star performers were PSG Group (up 23.5%) and this year’s stock pick, Transaction Capital (up 15.5%).

In an environment in which financial services companies are struggling to grow as cash-strapped consumers cancel their insurance policies, cash in savings policies or save less, Transaction Capital is posting double-digit growth thanks to its loans to taxi operators through its subsidiary, SA Taxi.

Growth in earnings has followed a similar trajectory and shows no sign of slowing, as the group’s niche allows it to do well in sunshine and rain. After all, transport spending is nondiscretionary.

The firm’s risk services unit buys books of bad debt, which it then collects on. Though it’s more difficult to collect debts from squeezed debtors, this risk is mitigated by the fact that the loan books are bought at a hefty discount, which means only a small portion of the debt need be collected to book profit.

Considerable intellectual property — such as intimate knowledge of taxi routes or clever tactics to get debtors to pay — gives Transaction Capital a healthy moat around its business, too. - Hanna Ziady

INVESTMENT COMPANIES

Some investment companies finished 2017 in style. Hosken Consolidated Investments, firmly hitched to the fortunes of SA’s gaming and leisure sectors, gained traction near the end of the year. African Empowerment Equity Investments and Sabvest realised trapped value through transactions involving key subsidiaries — the former through the listing of Premier Fishing & Brands and Ayo; the latter through a deal to sell SA Bias Industries.

The listing of Brian Joffe’s Long4Life venture also caused a stir, though the initial red-hot sentiment was tempered after the first few deals.

PSG Group made its big investment: a shift into lifestyle villages. There were also tilts by PSG into desalination services, and the agribusiness subsidiary’s long awaited listing of farmers’ retailer Kaap Agri.

Empowerment group Brimstone took strategic positions in Long4Life and tertiary education venture Stadio, while also backing subsidiary Sea Harvest’s takeover of Viking Fishing.

The big question is whether discounts on intrinsic value will widen to more attractive levels on the bigger investment companies. Certainly the fragile share prices of Reinet and Brait will be most keenly monitored.

Meanwhile the discounts on some smaller investment firms, notably Grand Parade Investments and Stellar Capital Partners, look enticing for steel-nerved punters.

But our pick is infrastructure investment specialists Gaia. - Marc Hasenfuss

MEDIA AND ENTERTAINMENT

SA’s media and entertainment industry, like the JSE itself, is dominated by the behemoth that is Naspers. And what a year it was for the Internet holding company in 2017, bar some negative attention surrounding MultiChoice’s dealings with ANN7 and the SABC.

Fuelled by its 34% stake in Tencent, Naspers rose 70% through the year. As Tencent more than doubled in size, Naspers could have risen further were it not for SA’s capital outflows, which hurt its stock the most given that it makes up 20% of the JSE.

Naspers’s more traditional rivals had a less exciting year on the domestic bourse. Caxton lost 6% while Tiso Blackstar — the owner of this magazine, Business Day and the Sunday Times — shed 9%. The industry is undergoing profound change as the consumption of news, radio and video entertainment rapidly shifts online. Incumbents are racing to develop and improve their online platforms and to supplement their top lines with new sources of revenue.

Naspers CEO Bob van Dijk’s view about the sector is perhaps the most radical. He told investors recently that five years from now, newspapers and linear TV would probably be consigned to the history books (e-books, presumably).

But media and entertainment companies have new opportunities to target consumers through the use of artificial intelligence and other technologies. -Nick Hedley

INDUSTRIAL COMPANIES

Preliminary data from the Absa purchasing managers’ index late in 2017 indicated a small uptick in manufacturing activity. That is good news for Barloworld, which managed to keep its head above water last year, while restructuring at Imperial Holdings enabled the logistics and vehicle dealership giant to stay afloat in tough markets. Imperial is a bellwether of everything from commodities to fast moving consumer goods, and intermediate manufactured products.

Meanwhile, along with a national drought in recent years — and the water crisis facing Cape Town — agriculture has suffered mightily. To compensate, companies such as Tongaat Hulett have diversified heavily into property development. Such hedges breathe new life into operations.

One group that tests the economic temperature across a range of industries is Invicta Holdings, the Financial Mail’s hot industrial stock for 2018. Invicta sells capital equipment, engineering products and building supplies.

Despite a slowdown in China, depressed commodity prices and currency volatility across Africa and Asia, Invicta delivered "exceptional results" for the year to March. In the six months to September, things then slowed down as many of the industries Invicta supplies remain under pressure. But the group has been improving its management and financial metrics and finding new markets in the rest of Africa. - Mark Allix

LIFE INSURANCE

Our life sector pick for 2017, Sanlam, had a strong year, rising almost 25%. It comfortably beat Old Mutual, which gained less than 10% even though fund managers expected value to be unlocked through the managed separation of its assets.

Old Mutual should perform better this year, even though there’s likely to be volatility as investors decide whether to keep the core Old Mutual Ltd share or UK-based Quilter, or both. The big winner from this separation is likely to be Nedbank.

Among the other life companies it is tempting to bottom-fish cheaper shares such as Liberty and MMI, which offer dividends in the 6%-8.5% range. But in the long run it pays to buy into a quality, growing business.

Discovery — the Financial Mail’s sector pick for 2018 — has been highly successful at launching businesses, and the scale of the business will go up another gear with the launch of Discovery Bank. Its life insurer took six years to become profitable, so don’t expect the bank to be an overnight success.

Discovery’s share price rose 35% last year, after a poor 2016. But it still has legs.

Discovery under CEO Adrian Gore and a team dominated by actuaries is by far the most innovative in the sector. Its earnings from its mature life and health operations are likely to grow faster than earnings at the older life insurers, and many of its newer businesses, in the UK and China particularly, are undervalued. - Stephen Cranston

TECHNOLOGY AND TELECOMS

Bar a few exceptions, 2017 was a year to forget for most technology and telecoms counters. In a depressed consumer environment, and with voice revenue declining, telecoms giants MTN, Vodacom and Telkom all went backwards. Telkom’s shares fell by more than a third.

In the technology segment, EOH was a notable underperformer, with its shares losing 59%. This was partly due to allegations against one of its now former subsidiaries, as well as forced share sales by EOH directors due to margin calls on geared positions.

Shares in the Financial Mail’s 2018 pick, Adapt IT, more than halved, while Blue Label — our pick for 2017 partly because of its Cell C recapitalisation deal — lost 18%. And despite announcing several deals around the globe, Net1 added just 2%.

However, some stocks bucked the trend. Mix Telematics was a standout performer, with its shares doubling through the year. Datatec also rounded out the year higher.

Ellies, which moved into penny-stock territory in 2015, clawed back 16% as the company reported its first profit since 2014.

Going into 2018, telecoms operators remain under pressure. Regulatory risks, together with the gradual downturn in voice revenues, mean there are no sure-buys in this segment of the market in the near term. Better value can be found among the JSE’s smaller technology stocks. - Nick Hedley

RETAIL STOCKS

It was the battle of the drug store retailers in 2017, with Dis-Chem emerging as the winner thanks to a 61.8% share-price gain. Rival Clicks was close behind with a gain of 56.8%.

Mr Price also shone in the retail sector, signalling that its operational problems are over by posting a 22.2% headline earnings rise in its half-year to September. Expecting more strong profit gains, investors climbed aboard to leave the company sporting 53.7% share-price gain at the end of the year.

The Foschini Group also impressed with a 23.6% price rise, as did Truworths with an 18.6% gain.

Shoprite did well, posting by far the best results among food retailers. Reflecting its resilience, the company shrugged off the unloading of shares worth R4.1bn by Christo Wiese in December to end 2017 with a 23% price gain. In the process, it trounced Pick n Pay and Spar, which were both up a marginal 2.3%.

The biggest disappointment was Woolworths, the Financial Mail’s 2017 sector pick. Amid problems in its Australian David Jones division and a poor showing by its SA clothing division, Woolworths’ price fell 8.2%, bringing its fall since peaking in 2015 to 38%.

Choosing a winner in the current depressed consumer market is no easy call. The Financial Mail is going with Mr Price on the expectation that it will continue to regain lost market share. - Stafford Thomas

MINING COMPANIES

Rand strength dampened returns from SA’s best-performing minerals: chrome, iron ore, manganese and coal. But last year was even harder for miners of gold, platinum and diamonds, whose dollar prices were flat. About half the platinum industry was loss-making at spot prices. The continuing failure to pass the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Amendment Bill and the publication of an arbitrarily drafted mining charter made it difficult for miners to make long-term investment decisions. But there were still deals: Sibanye-Stillwater made three big acquisitions, Indian billionaire Anil Agarwal took a 20% exposure to Anglo American shares and Glencore took 75% of Chevron SA for nearly US$1bn.

In 2018, HSBC expects global growth will continue and interest rate hikes will be muted. But it identifies several key risks: a more hawkish US Federal Reserve policy, which would cause the dollar to strengthen and shake commodities markets; a credit crisis in China; a failure to conclude a deal on Brexit; or a sharp drop in house prices.

Our pick last year, African Rainbow Minerals, returned only 6% as phenomenal returns from iron ore, chrome and manganese were not enough to offset weakness in gold and platinum and a strong rand. 

Our pick this year is Northam Platinum. - Charlotte Mathews

LISTED PROPERTY

Despite a dismal performance by a number of SA-focused property stocks last year, the sector notched up a respectable 14% return. This was propped up by spectacular runs from some of the rand-hedge property shares, particularly Greenbay (up 60% during the year), Sirius (up 41%) and MAS Real Estate (up 34%).

Some of the worst performers included Balwin Properties (down 31%) and Accelerate Property Fund (down 27%).

The Financial Mail’s real estate pick for last year was the Equites Property Fund — the JSE’s only specialist logistics fund (warehouse and distribution centres). It turned out to be one of the few local property stocks that did not disappoint, delivering a total return, including dividends, of close to 40%. Equites expanded into the UK in late 2016, providing a hedge to its SA-based income stream.

For 2018, we are betting that selected offshore property stocks will continue to outperform, given the headwinds for the property sector at home: the threat of higher vacancies and lower rentals in local mall and office portfolios in a struggling economy.

Our pick for 2018 is pure German play Sirius, which we believe will continue its strong run. The business-park owner seems to have hit on a winning formula and the smart money reckons highly competent CEO Andrew Coombs and CFO Alistair Marks are likely to unlock more value. - Joan Muller

TOURISM AND LEISURE

Pickings in the travel and leisure arena were lean, with the sector index ending 2017 down 28%.

Famous Brands was one big loser, its share price ending 33% down, at its lowest level in four years. Big damage was done by its loss-making UK restaurant chain Gourmet Burger Kitchen (GBK), acquired for £120m in September 2016. GBK has also left the group with a R2.9bn debt burden and a hefty interest bill to match.

It was primarily responsible for the 59% collapse in Famous Brands’ headline earnings (Heps) in its six months to August.

Famous Brands’ rival and the Financial Mail’s 2017 pick, Spur, came out well to limit the fall in earnings in its year to June to 8.3%. But its share price ended 14% down.

Only one travel and leisure company, Comair, really shone in 2017, its share price taking off to gain 62%. If it can continue to grab market share from a financially crippled SA Airways then Comair could well turn out to be a winner once again in 2018.

But for 2018’s sector winner we are looking to Grand Parade Investments. Driving GPI’s fortunes is Burger King. In 2018 it will go from 61 to 80 stores, in the process reaching the critical mass needed to deliver potentially hefty profits. - Stafford Thomas

TRANSPORT COMPANIES

Super Group takes the honours for the second year running as the Financial Mail’s transport sector hot stock.

In the year to June 2017 it secured entry into East Africa through a new vehicle contract with Kenya and reported 8% growth in operating profit to R2.1bn. Its core headline earnings per share grew 8% and revenue rose 15% to R30bn.

Apart from sub-Saharan Africa, Super Group trades in the UK, Australia and Europe. Its non-SA businesses now contribute about 40% of revenue and 61% of profit. Like Imperial Holdings, Super Group faces a deteriorating ratings environment, currency volatility and fluctuating vehicle markets in SA. Yet revenue in its SA dealership business soared 36.7% to R9bn.

Imperial’s restructuring programme buffeted the group in the year to June, as profit attributable to shareholders fell 13%. Revenue growth was at 1%, but reached a record R119.5bn, with operating profit up 2% to a record R6.5bn.

Since taking the reins of Imperial in February 2014, CEO Mark Lamberti has split the company into focused logistics and automotive divisions that might be listed separately on the JSE before the end of the financial year to June 2018. - Mark Allix