Fish and eggs

I can’t help but share that I’ll be taking my little dude to Newlands this afternoon for our first ever father-son cricket match. And what a match it’s turning out to be…

The markets are great and all, but that’s the stuff that life is really about!

There are certain sectors that are just as volatile as yesterday’s batting performance. Primary agriculture is one of them, with the companies that feed us having to constantly manage inputs that are even tricker than Starc’s swing bowling.

I’ve got a couple of examples of these companies today, along with a few other updates. I’ve bumped Santova’s results to tomorrow, as it would’ve been too much to squeeze it in today.

Enjoy!

Pan African Resources (JSE: PAN) will be on Unlock the Stock on Thursday. Attendance is free as always, but you must register here.

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Ready to learn about the hands that feed? I’ve got important updates from Oceana (JSE: OCE) and Quantum Foods (JSE: QFH). Before we get to that, here’s the year-to-date share price chart of these names:

We begin with Oceana, where the trading statement for the year ended September 2026 includes some exciting numbers.

HEPS is expected to be between 825 cents and 880 cents, a jump of between 46% and 56% from the prior year.

The first thing to do in this situation is check out the interim results for more context.

At the halfway mark in the year, HEPS was only up by 7.7%. They had banked 349.8 cents worth of HEPS by that stage, so the second half of the year appears to have generated more like 500 cents in HEPS!

The stronger performance is attributed to higher volumes and improved pricing in the fishmeal and fish oil (USA) and wild caught seafood segments. Lucky Star foods also contributed positively despite having limited inventory. The drag on performance was the Africa fishmeal and fish oil segment.

Primary agriculture is an unpredictable space and the whims of the ocean make it even riskier. This is why having a diversified business is so important.

We now move from fish to poultry and eggs.

Quantum Foods (JSE: QFH) released a trading statement for the year ended September 2026, with HEPS expected to increase by between 17% and 29%.

HEPS was up 16% in the interim period, so there’s been an acceleration in growth in the second half.

This has been driven by higher demand for poultry products, the stronger rand, lower feed input costs, low levels of electricity disruption and no significant poultry disease outbreaks. Although there are inflation and fuel price risks in the business, the good has far outweighed the bad in this period.

There are some timing distortions and other factors at play though, so it will be important to wait for the detailed results on 27 November 2026 before forming a view here.

In the feeds business, volumes were flat for external customers and slightly down for internal use due to more efficient farming. There was a soft base in this segment, as the repair of the Malmesbury mill after an explosion in mid-2024 had a negative impact on the 2025 financial year. Repairs were completed in the first half of 2026, giving them an opportunity to pull off a recovery year.

The broiler businesses experienced a decline in earnings, mainly due to lower margins on contracted live bird sales and higher operating costs. Better volumes weren’t able to fully offset these issues.

The layer farming business generated “significantly higher” earnings. There were operational reasons for this (like improved farming efficiencies), but there was also a year-on-year distortion in the form of insurance proceeds being received in this period for losses incurred in the previous period.

Earnings in the egg business decreased due to a 5% drop in average egg selling prices. It’s tough for farming efficiencies to offset that kind of pressure in selling costs.

Having said that, we’ve seen the businesses in the rest of Africa overcome the selling price hurdle. Zambia had enough positive factors (primarily lower feed costs, reduced load shedding hours and higher demand for chicks and feed) to offset the pressure from egg selling prices, leading to higher earnings. Profitability was also better in Uganda. Finally, earnings from Mozambique increased thanks to various factors offsetting the impact of lower egg prices.

Coronation (JSE: CML) has released a trading statement for the year ended September 2026 that suggests a decrease in fund management earnings per share of between 5% and 15%.

After a 2% increase in the interim period, that’s quite a negative swing in the second half.

Assets under management didn’t do much between March and September, increasing slightly from R746 billion to R750 billion. Other than in very specific global sectors, the markets haven’t been a friendly place this year.

PPC (JSE: PPC) announced that PPC Zimbabwe (an 88%-held subsidiary) has sold Arlington Estate for net proceeds of $21.4 million. The group had no commercial use for this property, so this is a perfect example of a company unlocking unproductive capital and potentially turning it into something better.

After taxes, PPC’s share of the proceeds is $17.9 million, or roughly R296 million. That’s a big chunk of cash flowing to the holding company!

To give more context to that number, the board-approved budget for the critical RK3 project is R3.1 billion. The sale of this property has raised nearly 10% of the funding required for a project that PPC is very excited about.

The lesson here? Many corporates can scratch around the couch cushions to find interesting sources of funding.

Primary Health Properties (JSE: PHP) and Universities Superannuation Scheme announced an increase in the target size of their existing joint venture from £250 million to £400 million. According to the announcement, the investment has the potential to grow to £800 million over time.

Primary Health Properties is transferring assets worth £67 million to the joint venture for a 20% equity stake. The net proceeds will be used to reduce debt.

This is another good example of a listed property fund using joint ventures and investment platforms to tap into private capital.

If that strategy sounds familiar, it’s because Burstone (JSE: BTN) has done something similar, as discussed by Andrew Wooler in this recent podcast with me.

As part of the same announcement, Primary Health Properties noted that Fitch Ratings has reaffirmed the credit rating of Assura Limited (which Primary Health recently acquired) as BBB+. The outlook has improved from Negative to Stable based on the progress made in derisking the balance sheet.

Finally, some selected director dealings:

Do your own research and speak to your financial advisor. Nothing you read or listen to in Ghost Mail should be interpreted as financial advice. This is not a complete review of SENS and does not replace the need for you to refer to company announcements and reports yourself. Every effort is made to avoid errors in Ghost Bites and related podcasts, but I am only human.

An AI fuelled tech rally saw the Nasdaq lead gains on Wall Street overnight, with the index closing more than 1% higher. Enthusiasm over Anthropic's SEC filing to list added to the positive sentiment, lifting hyperscalers and semiconductor stocks.

Microsoft and Alphabet are among the big names reporting today, which will test the sustainability of the sector's short term momentum.

The Federal Reserve concludes its monetary policy meeting today and is expected to leave rates unchanged, with the focus on the statement and the press conference that follows.

Asian equity markets are being led higher this morning by semiconductor stocks, following overnight gains in the US and strong results from SK Hynix. The company reported a more than sevenfold rise in quarterly operating profit, while revenue jumped 328% year on year.

Oil has steadied this morning after a two day pullback. Markets increasingly expect the US to resume strikes on Iran in the coming weeks, while Houthi attacks on Saudi energy infrastructure continue. Prices are being capped by Qatari and Pakistani mediation between Washington and Tehran, Oman's outline to restore free navigation through the Strait of Hormuz, and shipping flows that have largely recovered despite ongoing attacks on vessels.

Gold rebounded yesterday on improved risk appetite, although it is marginally lower this morning. The dollar has firmed, primarily against the yen, on expectations that the BoJ will not hike aggressively.

The rand is little changed this morning, and we expect a flat to marginally firmer start for the JSE All Share Index.

This update is provided by Shaun Murison, Senior Market Analyst at randswiss.com. Connect with him on LinkedIn here and follow him on X here.

Key Indicators: 

USD/ZAR R16.66/$ | US 10yr 5.02% | Gold $4,030/oz | Platinum $1,534/oz | Brent Crude $115.66