Last week, the JSE hosted considered one of its small cap showcases. This sequence is a part of a broader initiative to assist the flagging smaller capitalisation counters on the bourse. Interestingly, the JSE will probably be additionally introducing a promote-aspect market making scheme within the small cap market to assist bolster liquidity throughout the counters.
Exchanges world wide all need a lot of massive, liquid listings, however it’s price remembering that giant corporations begin life as small corporations. The least expensive new massive cap itemizing for an change, helps an present small cap develop into a big cap.
The small cap sector on exchanges is absolutely the incubator that precedes the rise of recent massive caps.
Not simply from an change perspective, however broadly, the well being of the small cap sector is a robust driver of employment (small caps are typically extra labour intensive than massive caps), tax revenues (extra earnings means extra taxes), and certainly progress and innovation so important to lengthy-time period financial success. This is a subject that Renergen’s Stefano Marani touches succinctly on here.
Five distinctive small caps have been offered on the newest showcase, and right here is a brief abstract and temporary ideas on every one.
Capital Appreciation (CTA)
Listed as a particular objective acquisition firm (Spac) in 2015, Capital Appreciation has acquisitively grow to be a fee and fee options group with a spread of level-of-sale, platform, software program and repair choices on this shortly evolving area. The group phrases itself a “business-to-business fintech group” and focuses on banks and insurance coverage corporations with companies in over 20 international locations.
Read: Capital Appreciation rides the digitalisation wave at dwelling and overseas
The international fee area has robust lengthy-time period tailwinds that have been, at the very least partially, accelerated by Covid pushing extra funds into non-contact digital channels and away from money.
While a few of this demand was pulled ahead by the pandemic, in the long run, these tailwinds of rising digitisation are prone to stay legitimate.
With a money pile of R530 million on its stability sheet – round 40 cents per share (cps) of its 182cps share worth – Capital Appreciation is in a superb place to fund progress, make acquisitions and pay dividends, assuming it evolves on the best aspect of the quick-altering fee ecosystems.
Renergen (REN)
Renergen additionally listed as a Spac earlier than buying its key underlying asset, which is now known as Tetra4.
Tetra4 holds the primary and solely onshore petroleum manufacturing proper in South Africa, within the Free State, roughly 250km southwest of Johannesburg.
This distinctive gasoline discipline holds huge quantities of each methane, which can make liquid pure gasoline (LNG), and helium. The latter is a crucial and unsubstitutable enter into the semiconductor manufacturing, aerospace, MRI and welding industries.
While LNG affords nice home publicity to international vitality costs, it’s helium that’s the actual hidden gem on this useful resource.
For a extra detailed dialogue on helium, see my article on the spot helium token Renergen issued: ‘Go long helium’ might be good recommendation.
The group is at the moment ramping up Phase 1 whereas constructing as much as a a lot bigger Phase 2. In securing the financing for Phase 2, Renergen has seen robust curiosity from Ivanhoe Mines, the Central Energy Fund and the Development Finance Corporation, amongst different funders.
Read: Renergen seals R1bn funding from state-owned Central Energy Fund
This all considerably debottlenecks and derisks Phase 2’s financing, whereas pointing to a considerably bigger second section than all of us initially envisioned.
For analysis on Renergen, see this handy list of stories.
Southern Palladium (SDL)
Recently listed on JSE, Southern Palladium is an extended overdue useful resource exploration play.
The group has raised Au$19 million to fund a drilling and exploration programme of its Bengwenyama undertaking, which it expects to finish throughout the following two years. If is profitable, this could arrive at a prefeasibility examine that may permit it to use for a full mining proper and start creating the mine.
The Bengwenyama undertaking is 290km from Johannesburg on the japanese limb of the Bushveld Complex, specializing in the platinum group metals basket. With a direct 30% stake and an oblique 12.3% stake by way of Southern Palladium, the Bengwenyama Community across the undertaking space is strongly supportive of this useful resource’s growth. Indeed, the same setup to the Royal Bafokeng Platinum (RBP) cooperative labour mannequin might be arrived at.
The underlying useful resource has a robust income cut up towards rhodium (53%) and palladium (30%) and the group estimates its (unproven) useful resource to be round 19 million ounces (Moz) (inferred) to 53Moz (together with extra exploration targets).
Spear Reit (SEA)
Spear Reit is the one home regionally-targeted Reit on the JSE, (the change does have a spread of offshore regionally-targeted Reits) focusing particularly on the Western Cape.
Within the Western Cape, the Reit diversifies its property publicity, with the stability of its portfolio at the moment mendacity in industrial, logistics and comfort retail properties.
Importantly, Spear insiders maintain round 28% of the Reit’s shares and the group and its properties are internally-managed.
This ensures that Spear’s administration focus stays on effectivity and returns quite simply dimension (which externally-managed Reits do, and thus see decrease and decrease high quality properties added to their portfolios over time).
Spear has an affordable mortgage-to-worth (sort of like a property firm’s debt-to-belongings) ratio of 39%, and paid out 88% of its distributable earnings in FY22, which sees it at the moment buying and selling on a dividend yield of 10.2%. Its tangible e-book worth is 1 130cps (with a median cap fee on its property portfolio of round 9%, which appears affordable), placing the inventory on a 32% low cost or 0.67 worth-to-e-book ratio.
Stadio Holdings (SDO)
Spun out of Curro (COH), which itself was spun out of PSG (PSG), Stadio is a targeted play on tertiary training and has progressively constructed a tertiary providing that has 5 schools and 10 campuses, and affords over 50 {qualifications}.
Importantly for future progress, the group has 33 new programmes within the accreditation pipeline. These embrace widening the legislation college and in-demand info expertise {qualifications} with an extended-time period plan to supply a spread of engineering {qualifications}.
Outside of Unisa, Stadio is the biggest distance studying providing in South Africa. Indeed, its goal is kind of actually to be the choice to Unisa (Unisa has 320 000 college students).
The group at the moment has 38 414 college students throughout its choices and has beforehand communicated a goal of 56 000 college students by 2026 (this might indicate a progress fee in college students of 8% to 9% every year).
It has an final goal of 100 000 college students over time, which is splendidly audacious.
With a market cap of R2.8 billion, Stadio is at the moment buying and selling at a valuation of R74 172 per scholar.
The temptation is to check Stadio to both ADvTech (round R111 166 market cap per scholar) and Curro (round R81 981 market cap per scholar), however that will be inappropriate as ADvTech affords tertiary, education and distance training whereas Curro affords solely education (with a point of distance providing too).
Read: Growth in scholar numbers bolsters Stadio’s FY outcomes
That mentioned, if Stadio actually does attain 100 000 college students, the remainder of its economics, money flows, earnings and, sure, valuation ought to observe suite.
Keith McLachlan is funding officer at Integral Asset Management.
* Keith McLachlan and a few of Integral Asset Management’s portfolios might maintain Renergen shares.
