🇿🇦 Mzansi Market Memo — Thursday, 17 July 2025

Moloweni gents and gentleladies.

A calmer day today filled with some positive movements from Acquisitions to earnings updates, and throw in a StatsSA retail update too. Markets are moving like they know something — but they’re not ready to tell you yet. The JSE’s creeping upward, ETF demand is hot, and foreign funds are sniffing around again. Meanwhile, retail sales gave the economy a small strut, even if it’s wearing budget leather from last season. Do South Africans want to buck the fast fashion trend or are those Temu deals just too attractive?

Let’s get to the money.

⚡ Before the Bell

• 🌍 Global & Local Market Recap

  • JSE All Share Index: Up 0.05% from the previous session.

  • USD/ZAR Exchange Rate: R17.87 - stay steady little guy

• Stats SA today: Wholesale trade sales, May 2025; Motor trade sales, May 2025; Selected building statistics of the private sector as reported by local government institutions, May 2025; Statistics of civil cases for debt, May 2025

  • Catch the summary tomorrow; yesterday’s retail sales highlights below

• Earnings today: REBOSIS Interim and Final results; CONDUIT interim results

📣 SENS Roundup

1. AngloGold Ashanti (ANG)
   🏔️ To acquire Augusta Gold in C$152 million deal
   AngloGold will buy all outstanding shares of Augusta Gold at C$1.70 per share, representing a 28% premium. The acquisition adds feasibility-stage assets in Nevada’s Beatty District to AngloGold’s growing footprint.
   TLDR: Capital deployment with strategic upside — consolidates a prime gold district and adds reserves to the pipeline.

2. Richemont (CFR)
   💍 Q1 sales up 6%, jewellery shines despite global wobbles
   The group reported €5.4 billion in sales, driven by strong performance in jewellery and stable revenues in Asia-Pacific. Net cash sits robust at €7.4 billion.
   TLDR: A solid start to FY26 — luxury demand remains resilient despite geopolitics and rate pressure.

3. Coronation Fund Managers (CML)
   📊 Assets under management hit R737 billion
   No commentary was provided, but the size reflects stability in client flows and market performance.
   TLDR: Passive signal of fund flow health — worth tracking over time for investor sentiment insights.

4. Numeral Ltd (XII)
   💼 EPS jumps nearly 3,000% YoY
   Revenue rose to $542k with a notable surge in headline earnings per share to $0.004. Also announced: the resignation of director Glenn Henning.
   TLDR: Small-cap surprise — solid earnings lift, but long-term impact depends on sustainability and execution. A cautionary wouldn’t have been enough!!

5. Sygnia Itrix (SYFANG)
   🧠 2 million new ETF units listed on the JSE
   The SYFANG ETF, which tracks AI and FANG-focused companies, added 2 million securities at ~R18.04 each.
   TLDR: Retail and institutional demand remains high for thematic ETFs — watch flows into tech-linked products.

6. 10X Wealth GOVI ETF (CSGOVI)
   📈 200 million rand in new ETF issuance
   10X listed 2 million additional securities at R11.14 each, growing total units in issue to over 231 million.
   TLDR: Reflects continued investor appetite for SA government bond exposure — a yield-safe play amid volatility.

7. Shaftesbury Capital (SHC)
   🏢 BlackRock increases stake to over 6.15%
   A TR-1 disclosure reveals that global asset manager BlackRock has crossed the 6% threshold in Shaftesbury Capital via direct holdings and derivatives.
   TLDR: Signals confidence from a major global investor in a cross-listed property play — could boost institutional interest in SA and UK.

🧠 Exec Picks - tariffs and tariffs

1. StatsSA 🛍️ Retail sales post 4.2% gain
   Clothing and general dealers lead the charge
   Stats SA reports that real retail trade sales rose 4.2% YoY in May, powered by a 12.5% surge in clothing, footwear, and leather goods. General dealers also posted solid gains. On a 3-month basis, growth was 3.5% — but flat when adjusted for seasonality.
   TLDR: Consumer spending remains resilient, especially in fashion and general retail — but signs of plateauing are emerging under the surface.
   Read more: StatsSA retail trade sales May 2025 full report

2. More on the Energy Sitch: Eskom edges forward — but the gap remains
   ⚡ Eskom has improved availability thanks to private solar adoption and better maintenance, but demand still exceeds supply. Load-shedding has been avoided, but only temporarily, with costly emergency measures.
   TLDR: SA's electricity fix is still running on a backup generator. Big investment or big trouble ahead.
   Read more: Daily Investor

3. Fourways Mall may write off R800m
   🏬 Accelerate Property Fund could fully impair the R800 million owed to it as settlement talks with Nic Georgiou-linked entities stall — again.
   TLDR: A flagship retail asset is dangling on legal threads. Not a good look for SA property credibility.
   Read more: Moneyweb

4. Singapore eyes SA as gateway to Asia
   🌏 Singaporean trade delegates are pushing deeper ties with SA, especially in logistics and green energy, citing SA’s BRICS edge and infrastructure ambitions.
   TLDR: Foreign interest is simmering — can SA turn attention into investment?
   Read more: Business Report

🧾 Glossary: Market Moves Explained

When the jargon hits harder than a load shedding schedule, we’ve got you. Here’s your quick decode of today’s financial buzzwords.

• Write-off – When a company acknowledges it won’t recover a certain asset’s value, often treating it as a loss in the financials. Common in bad debts, failed investments, or damaged assets.

• Impair – An accounting adjustment when the carrying value of an asset exceeds its recoverable amount. Not always a full write-off, but a clear downgrade in value.

• Adjusted for Seasonality – A statistical tweak to remove predictable fluctuations (like festive sales or winter slowdowns) so analysts can better compare month-to-month or quarter-to-quarter trends.

• TR-1 Disclosure – A regulatory requirement (mainly in UK/EU markets) where investors must notify the exchange when their shareholding in a listed company crosses certain thresholds (like 3%, 5%, 10%).

😂 Meme of the Day

🧾 Final Word

Markets seem to be calming, but they’re not asleep. With ETF demand rising, retail resilience holding, and power woes simmering again, SA traders are juggling optimism and caution like it’s their side hustle. Aim to focus on where the value sits and what the institutional investors and boards are doing. Don’t trust the numbers but the actions driving them. Only one more day to go!

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Mzansi Market Memo is compiled daily by Rayhaan @ the Memo for investors and operators who trade before the sun rises. *This memo is for informational purposes only. Not financial advice. Still, we’d buy low and read high.

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