Over the past two weeks, AdvTech, Curro, Hyprop, Mondi and Pan African Resources saw directors and institutional investors adjust their positions — signalling confidence, profit-taking and strategic repositioning across some of South Africa’s top listed companies.
AdvTech prescribed officer Lenn Honey led the insider-selling activity with a sizeable on-market sale of 100,000 ordinary shares on October 7, fetching an aggregate of R3.44m. Institutional recalibrations were evident at soon-to-be-delisted Barloworld, where Silchester International Investors disposed of its entire interest in ordinary shares. The exit leaves Silchester with a significant sum to redeploy elsewhere. Coronation Fund Managers nudged its stake in Bytes Technology Group above 22%, while JPMorgan Chase reported holdings just over 5%, largely through cash-settled equity swaps.
Director and associate transactions were notably active at retail property giant Hyprop Investments, where multiple sales cumulatively moved more than 300,000 shares off the books of directors and their related trusts, realising more than R15m collectively. Italtile’s nonexecutive director, Jan Potgieter, undertook a disposal over four days, yielding R4.6m, while Ninety One increased its position in Italtile to a clean 5% stake.
The hospitality and education sectors saw smaller-scale yet significant shifts. City Lodge’s related parties, Entertainment Holdings and Tsogo Sun Investment, reduced holdings to 3%. Aylett & Co disposed of shares and now holds a 4.97% position in Curro. eMedia Holdings saw Allan Gray hold a collective 2.79% stake, reflecting modest accumulation across client accounts. Meanwhile, Fortress Real Estate Investments attracted the attention of Truffle Asset Management, which now holds 7.3% of the company’s B ordinary shares.
In mining and resources, the Public Investment Corp (PIC) and Allan Gray remain active. At Thungela Resources, Allan Gray doubled its holding to just over 10%, while the PIC trimmed its portion to 9.81%. Sibanye-Stillwater’s PIC holding now exceeds 20%, cementing its position as a strategic cornerstone investor.
At Pan African Resources, Coronation edged its holding above the 3% threshold, from 2.999% to 3.023% of total voting rights. While the adjustment is modest, it reflects measured confidence in the company’s operations and exposure to gold markets. Meanwhile, financial director Marileen Kok acquired 20,000 ordinary shares on-market, increasing her personal holding to 45,000 shares, a small but telling sign of insider confidence in the company’s prospects.
At Sabvest Capital, director Leon Rood acquired 5,100 ordinary shares at R115 a share, for a total of R586,500. While a relatively modest purchase, it represents a direct, beneficial stake by a company insider and signals personal confidence in Sabvest’s operational outlook and governance, especially since the company has maintained a growing NAV for the past three years.
Global listed stakes continued to evolve. Mondi saw Allan Gray increase holdings to just over 8%, BlackRock edged higher to 7.78%, and Mondi chair Philip Yea added a modest 5,000 shares to his portfolio. MultiChoice continues its consolidation phase: Groupe Canal+ now controls 72.46% of ordinary shares, set to rise to more than 76% pending settlement, while previous institutional investors such as Pentwater, UBS and JPMorgan have sharply reduced or fully exited their positions.
Finally, Woolworths Food CEO Sam Ngumeni and director Manie Maritz sold stock totalling 582,846 shares. This collectively generates more than R30m, which might be concerning to investors. They sold the shares at around the current price, which softens the blow, but it is hardly a good sign.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.