The overall performance of Africa’s biggest stock exchange hides the fact that local investors actually had a very good year.
Proponents of active portfolio management will be able to use the performance of the JSE in 2024 as a strong argument to promote their belief. The JSE All Share Index posted a return of only 9.2% for the year, barely beating a fixed deposit in the local bank.
The JSE Top 40 – one of the favourites to track – increased by only 7%.
The action was to be found among smaller companies. The Small Cap Index improved by just less than 27% since January 2024 when smaller SA companies recovered sharply after the uncertainty of the national election, from very low standings.
The shares of medium-sized companies fared well too, as measured by the Mid Cap Index. It rose by 11.1%.
Banks and financial services also did very well. Largely exposed to SA, our economy and SA citizens, the recovery in consumer sentiment led to a recovery in the Financial 15 Index of more than 15%.
Industrials, also mostly SA companies, mirrored this improvement and increased by 15.3%.
Unfortunately, mining sector shares declined by nearly 10%, according to the index that tracks the largest ten resource companies. However, there were winners, including gold stocks like Pan African Resources and Harmony.
Looking at the shares that performed the best and the worst over the last 12 months revealed a few surprises, hence the quip about active management and doing diligent research to find opportunities.
A bit of luck is necessary too. It is unlikely that any amount of research would have led investors to the share that posted the best gain in 2024.
Sable Exploration and Mining (Seam) chalked up a gain of 1160% after starting the year on a lowly 15 cents, increasing to R1, falling back to 18 cents and then rising to end the year on R1.89.
Another dark horse that did well was Kore Potash, listed on the London Stock Exchange’s alternative market, the Australian Stock Exchange and on the JSE. It owns a stake in a potash mine in the Congo – probably the last pace SA investors would like to put some money.
However, Kore increased by 225% between January and December last year, despite all sorts of problems.
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Building recovery …
Stefanutti Stocks Holdings (Stefstock) is probably the first share that analysts and astute investors would have identified. Recovery in building activity and the rerating of SA Inc stocks pushed the share price 215% higher.
Other construction shares, Wilson Bayley Homes Ovcon (WBHO) and Raubex, are also on the list of the fifty shares that performed well in 2024. Raubex gained 91% and WBHO 73%.
Surprisingly, Eastplat and Lonfin both increased by more than 100% each, despite the woes of the platinum industry.
Nampak is another recovery share, eventually bringing joy to its long-suffering investors. It posted an increase of more than 120%.
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The top-performing 50 shares on the JSE in 2024
The list of gainers is noticeably longer than the list of shares that posted losses during 2024. There were 283 shares that were listed on the exchange for the full 12 months of which 185 increased in price.
Of these, 75 increased by at least 30%. Seven ended the year unchanged. In contrast, 91 shares declined of which 23 declined by more than 30%.
The biggest decline of a major stock was linked to Sasol.
The share price of Sasol’s BEE shares fell by 70%, due to the sharp decline in the Sasol share price, and because the BEE shares were trading on a premium to their inherent value. Sasol fell by 55% in 2024.
The share prices of MTN’s special purpose vehicle for black empowerment, MTN Zakhele Fathi, and that of Vodacom, YeboYetho, also declined sharply. MTN’s Zakhele Fathi fell by 53% and Vodacom’s YeboYetho by 37%.
The sustainable economy was not kind to two companies working in the industry. The American-based Montauk Renewables (with a secondary listing on the JSE) fell by 56%, while the local Renergen lost 55%.
There are a lot of mining shares among the 50 shares that performed the worst during 2024: Gemfields, Kumba Iron Ore, Jubilee Metals, Copper 360, Amplats, Sibanye-Stillwater, Northam, Exxaro, ArcelorMittal and Thungela.
Of interest is that the world’s biggest beer brewer, AB InBev, also made the list of losers, even with the support of a falling rand.
AB Inbev fell 22% on the New York Stock Exchange during 2024 to end the year on an 18-month low as analysts concluded that the damage to its once best-selling Bud Light brand seems permanent after the 2023 boycott.
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The worst-performing 50 shares on the JSE in 2024
This article was republished from Moneyweb. Read the original here.
