| Sun International fell 10% as the market opened yesterday, giving back some of the strong gains it made late Wednesday after it emerged that it had been approached by a Latin American investor with a possible R22 per share offer to take control of the local group. While Sun International said Nueva Inversiones Pacifico Sur's interest wasn't new - and one of its biggest shareholders dismissed the offer as too low - its shares recovered most of yesterday's losses. Investors may be pricing in a formal offer and perhaps even a hostile bid for the hotel and casino operator. With many companies under pressure, those in a position of strength are looking for deals and Mr Price may be one of them. Alongside its annual results yesterday it reiterated its plan to increase its share capital so it can take advantage of opportunities. While sales were impacted by Covid-19 and the lockdown, it reported strong growth in online transactions as lockdown restrictions were eased. Hudaco has also seen a recovery in sales and hopes its second half will be more profitable than its first, which was also impacted by last December's load shedding. Also today, a trading update from AVI as its financial year draws to a close and all the latest mergers and acquisitions news from DealMakers. Finally, watch out for Ingham Analytics' latest research which explains why Capitec stands out from the big four banks in the context of Finance Minister Tito Mboweni's supplementary budget this week. I hope you have a good day. Stephen Gunnion Managing Editor, InceConnect
Your Rand Reaches More Lives When You Fund the Right Program The courageous organisations on the front-line of food aid distribution are facing significant challenges to their work. Escalating hunger has heightened the levels of violence around food distribution, food parcels are subject to increasing politicisation, organisations have faced significant operational pressure to manage demand and bureaucracy has taxed the flow of donated food. We are proud to announce the launch of iHIVE, a product of partnership between InceConnect, Bridge Capital, and www.acumen.zone. iHIVE is an end-to-end solution for digital aid delivery seeking to drive efficiency and dignity in aid provision. We have partnered with well-known food-assistance NPOs around the country who are providing relief to the most vulnerable amongst us. Find out more here.
The latest from Ingham Analytics Of the listed JSE banks, which would you regard as having a lower risk profile, ABSA or Capitec? The first of the two is one of the big four, safe as houses you'd reckon, too big to fail. The second is a lowly micro-loan outfit. No contest, right, in a Covid-19 South Africa? In a Trader entitled "Tito's shocker less of a shocker for Capitec" Ingham Analytics have what they say is a counter intuitive view on this. The supplementary budget this week they say weights banks' risk further to upside. Banks hold heaps of government debt, due to liquidity requirements. So, what are the pros and cons on Capitec that make it a bit different to FirstRand, Standard, ABSA and Nedbank? And what are the price to book ratios of the five right now? Ingham Analytics are going to be doing an overdue update on Capitec but in the meantime they have some intriguing pointers to consider if you're keen on having some stake in the banking sector. | 