The past two weeks have served up a fascinating mix of strategic stake-building, profit-taking and the usual tax-season shuffling. Here’s what the latest movements tell us about the state of play in some of South Africa’s key boardrooms.
The most intriguing story of the fortnight comes from Mantengu Mining, a company that has been making good and bad noises lately.
Amid leadership shuffles and ambitious growth plans for its Langpan chrome project, Magen Naidoo has been putting his money where his new title is. Naidoo, who steps up as CEO this week after Mike Miller’s resignation, has been a consistent buyer of Mantengu stock throughout late February.
It’s a classic vote of confidence. When an incoming CEO buys shares on the open market just before taking the reins, it sends a clear message: he believes the market is undervaluing what he’s about to build. For investors weary of small-cap mining volatility, Naidoo’s wallet is offering a reassuring counter-narrative to the recent boardroom drama.
Dis-Chem offers a conflicting tale. Veteran Stanley Goetsch sold a huge R11.2m stake — typically a bearish signal. Yet, almost simultaneously, director Johannes Mthimunye snapped up R1.45m in shares. While Goetsch takes chips off the table, Mthimunye’s buy-in suggests at least one insider believes the pharmacy giant is still priced to buy.
Over in the construction sector, Calgro M3 continues to receive insider support. FD Sayuri Naicker picked up R202,800 worth of shares, followed closely by director Allistiar Langson, who bought another R175,000 worth a week later. Calgro has been buying back its own shares, and now its executives are following suit. When management and the company are united in bidding for stock, it usually suggests they see intrinsic value that the broader market is missing.
Quantum Foods saw a flurry of activity involving executive directors Adel Deidré van der Merwe, André Hugo Muller and subsidiary director Roelof Viljoen exercising phantom share rights.
Viljoen didn’t just dump his shares on the open market; he sold his R758,000 stake off-market to Capitalworks Private Equity. Capitalworks is already a major shareholder in Quantum. By selling directly to them, Viljoen facilitated the private equity firm’s tightening grip on the poultry producer.
Beyond the directors, the big money is moving too. Ninety One has been busy, notably increasing its stake in The Foschini Group (TFG) to more than 5%. This is a significant vote of confidence in the retail sector from one of South Africa’s smartest asset managers. It suggests it sees value in TFG’s ability to navigate the current consumer squeeze, perhaps betting that the worst of the inflation cycle is behind us and shoppers are ready to return.
Conversely, Visual International is seeing an exodus. An associate of director Ruben Richards has been selling small but consistent chunks of shares — 1.5-million here, 300,000 there — at a painful 2c per share. When insiders are selling at penny stock levels, it’s hard to spin a positive story. It often hints at capitulation or a desperate need for liquidity, neither of which is comforting for minority shareholders.
Finally, a crucial clarification on a trade that raised eyebrows last week. When Pepkor CEO Pieter Erasmus disposed of 20-million shares the sheer volume looked, at first glance, like a vote of no confidence. It turns out this wasn’t a standard market sell-off, but the closing chapter of a long, messy saga: the Steinhoff global settlement. The disposal was directly linked to the resolution of claims by the former owners of Tekkie Town. This makes the transaction a necessity rather than a bearish signal on Pepkor’s future.
A2X
On the A2X, BID Corp led the value stakes over the past week, with R204.96m in shares traded, giving it a 12.24% share of the market value. Nepi Rockcastle followed with R67.89m in value (9.51%). Prosus once again featured prominently, with R335.93m in trades (8.95%). Rounding out the top five were Discovery, at R99.55m and 8.49%, and Absa, which drew R145.64m in value (7.91%).
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