Company news in brief

Trustco’s share price plummets by 45%
Trustco Group Holdings’ share price on the JSE and Namibian Stock Exchange (NSX) nosedived by nearly 45% on Tuesday after the Namibian-based group said it expected a basic loss per share (LPS) for the 12 months ended 31 August 2023 of between 54.55c and 83.73.
Trustco closed at 27c per share, a drop of 22c compared to Monday’s closing price.
In a trading statement day Tuesday, the Namibian-based group said it expects its net asset value per share (NAVPS) for the past financial year to plummet by between nearly 25% and 46% year-on-year – from 181c in its 2022 book-year to between 98c and 136c in its 2023 financial year.
The group further anticipates a headline loss per share (HLPS) of between 49.73c and 88.75c, compared to a HLPS of 195.13c in 2022.

Madison Metals strikes high-grade uranium at Khan
Canada-based Madison Metals Inc. on Tuesday provided an update on its recent exploration activities at the company’s Khan Project at Madison West in Namibia’s highly prospective Erongo uranium province.
“The Khan Project is quickly becoming an extremely valuable asset to Madison, having huge potential for making new high-grade uranium discoveries sitting right next to two operating uranium mines,” commented Duane Parnham, executive chairman and CEO of Madison Metals.
“Madison has deployed field personnel to perform channel sampling and chemical analysis across favourable high-grade uranium rocks and expand the ground survey to other targets at ML86A in advance of a planned 2024 drilling programme at Anomaly 5,” Parnham said.

Nedbank in new takeover deal
Nedbank is buying JSE-listed industrial group enX's fleet-management business Eqstra in a deal that valued at R2.5 billion. It will be combined with the bank's own fleet management business as it looks to build scale.
The transaction is still subject to regulatory approval and a final calculation of the acquisition price must still be confirmed, but enX said that if the transaction had closed at the end of August, the gross proceeds received before taxes, debt and transaction costs would have been just over R1 billion. Nedbank will take on Eqstra's debt of about R1.4 billion.
Eqstra provides a full spectrum of commercial and passenger vehicle leasing services, including fleet management, outsourcing solutions, maintenance, warranty management, remarketing and vehicle tracking solutions.
enX, valued at R1.6 billion on the JSE, also has petrochemical and industrial equipment interests. Its fleet management business accounted for just under 30% of group revenue as of 2023 and employed just under 300 staff.
Nedbank, valued at R101 billion on the JSE, already has a fleet management business, NedFleet.
"A combined Eqstra and NedFleet operation will provide an integrated approach to fleet management, aimed at providing better quality, cost and scale to our joint clients," the bank's managing executive of retail and business banking, Ciko Thomas, said in a statement.
"The acquisition will also expand Nedbank's product and services offering in Namibia and eSwatini, and expand Nedbank Group's footprint into a new jurisdiction in Africa, being Botswana." – Fin24

RMH declares special dividend
Shares of property-focused RMB Holdings (RMH) jumped 12% yesterday morning after it announced a pickup in the value of its portfolio and a special dividend.
The group's net asset value rose about 2% to R1.45 billion in the six months to end-September, relative to March, and it also opted to declare a R327 million special dividend. Its value was lifted by its most important asset, Atterbury, which also helped its cash pile after the settlement of a loan account.
The former FirstRand parent company separately listed its insurance interests – Discovery, Momentum Metropolitan and OUTsurance – as RMI in 2011 and then expanded its investment strategy to include a property investment business, RMH Property, in 2016.
Now valued at about R905 million on the JSE, RMH now only has one business, RM Properties, which only has three investments in its portfolio; Atterbury, debt and equity funding business Integer Properties and urban renewal property fund Divercity.
Atterbury, however makes up about 80% of its portfolio, and it focused on mixed-use precincts, having a 20% stake in the Mall of Africa, while owning the Newtown Precinct in Johannesburg. – Fin24