PDSNET Market Snapshot

Stadio (SDO) is a tertiary education institution that offers a wide range of post-school training. The company offers higher education through five universities offering higher certificates, degrees, masters, and PhD qualifications. It currently has over 46 000 students enrolled in 6 faculties offering more than 50 accredited training programmes.

86% of these student study online. The company has a vision of having 100 000 students, most of whom are expected to be distance learning students. In its results for the six months to 30th June 2025 the company reported revenue up 16% and headline earnings per share (HEPS) up 28%.

Student numbers increased by 8% to 54487. The company said, "...results for the six months ended 30 June 2025, showcasing strong financial performance and robust cash generation, positioning itself well for the opening of the new comprehensive STADIO Durbanville campus in early 2026." In a trading statement for the year to 31st December 2025 the company estimated that HEPS would increase by between 17,1% and 27,3%.

We added SDO to the Winning Shares List (WSL) on 29th June 2024 at 525c. It has since moved up to 1168c. We believe that Stadio has a great future based on the general ineffectiveness of government tertiary education in South Africa. At current prices, and following their results, Stadio has been in a strong upward trend despite a recent sell-off.

We are bullish on its prospects. 

Sanlam (SLM) is one of the largest insurance and financial services groups in South Africa. It was established in 1918 and demutualised in 1998 and then listed on the JSE and the Namibian Stock Exchange. It has operations in South Africa, the UK, America, Europe, India, and Australia as well as a range of other African countries.

Its product range includes general insurance, life insurance, asset management, banking, credit, health and bancassurance. The business has four essential elements: 1. Sanlam Investment Holdings (SIH) - now 25% owned by African Rainbow Capital 2. Sanlam Emerging markets - which includes its 84,5% interest in Saham 3.

Sanlam Personal Finance 4. Santam - in which it owns 61% Outside of South Africa, it has operations in 11 other African countries and Malaysia. Saham has operations in 33 French-speaking countries with 3000 staff members operating out of 700 branches offering a similar product mix to Sanlam.

Sanlam also owns 26% of Shriram which is a leading provider of insurance products and financial services in India. It also made a deal to acquire 69% of Catalyst Fund Managers, a Cape-based manager of listed property assets and 100% of an Irish company, CIG Fund Management. About 50% of Sanlam's profits come from its personal finance operation which is primarily based inside South Africa.

It is therefore impacted by the low levels of consumer spending in this country as well as the economic recession. Sanlam is 18% black-owned and has initiated a partnership with African Rainbow Capital (ARC) in which it intends to focus on lower- and middle-income consumers and small companies.

Sanlam will provide R2bn of seed capital. In its results for the six months to 30th June 2025 the company reported headline earnings per share (HEPS) down 2%. The company said the fall in HEPS was "...due to the 2024 results benefiting from higher positive investment variances and partial recognition of the non-cash Capitec reinsurance recapture fee.

Attributable earnings per share was also impacted by lower gains from disposal of subsidiaries and associates relative to 2024. Group new business volumes increased by 7% to R218 billion." In a trading statement for the year to 31st December 2025 the company estimated that HEPS would fall by between 15% and 25%.

The company said, "HEPS contracted largely due to the corporate activity and structural changes in 2024 and 2025, as well as negative investment variances in 2025, primarily driven by unfavourable movements at the long end of the yield curve relative to the strong gains recorded in 2024". Business Day reports that Sanlam's growth in the 9 months to 30th September 2025 was good in most areas. Financials services were up 19% and new business volumes were up 13%.

Cash inflows were up almost 100% and new business in life insurance rose by 6%.  Sanlam is one of the JSE's foremost blue-chip shares with a history of steady growth over a long period of time. After recovering somewhat from the fall in markets due to Trump's tariffs it is currently trading on a P:E of 9.99.

We consider it to be good value at these levels. 

Greencoat invests in, owns and operates cash generative European renewable energy infrastructure generation and storage assets. The company is involved in gas generation in Ireland and Spain, Nuclear generation in France and Sweden, Biomass generation in Finland and coal generation in Germany.

The company is driven by the European Unions "Net Zero" carbon emissions which is expected to cause the demand for renewable to quadruple between 2024 and 2030. The company owns 40 renewable generation and storage assets in five European market. In its results for the year to 31st December 2025 the company reported 3684 gigawatts of electricity generated and a net asset value (NAV) of 99 euro cents.

The company said, "Cash generation of €114.6 million (2024: €140.8 million), delivering net dividend cover of 1.5x (2024: 1.9x) with dividends paid amounting to €75.6 million. Aggregate Group Debt reduced to €1,206 million (2024: €1,263 million), equivalent to 52% of GAV".  The share came to the JSE of 10th June 2025 and closed on that at 1845c.

It has since fallen to 1390c and volumes traded have dropped off to an average of about R76 000 changing hands every day. The share is clearly a rand hedge, but we suggest that you wait for it to enter a new upward trend before investigating further. 

FirstRand (FSR) has five divisions - First National Bank (FNB), Rand Merchant Bank (RMH), WesBank, Ashburton (in the UK) and Aldermore. It operates in 10 African countries, has platforms in Africa, Asia and Europe. It also has representative offices in Dubai and Shanghai. FNB has a branch in India.

The company was founded by Laurie Dippenaar, G.T. Ferriera and Paul Harris in the 1970's. With a market capitalisation of about R385bn it is by far the largest banking group in South Africa. FNB offers a diverse range of banking products to consumers, small and large businesses and government departments.

WesBank is the largest asset financing company in Southern Africa covering vehicles of all types, both private and consumer as well as aviation assets and agriculture. RMH offers corporate and investment banking in 35 African countries. Banking shares in general have been taking strain in the current economic environment, but FirstRand has benefited from its strong focus on innovation and technology.

All banks are now benefiting from rising interest rates. The full impact of the coronavirus on its performance is unknown at this time, but it appears that FNB gained market share in this difficult environment and has weathered the storm very well. In its results for the six months to 31st December 2025 the company reported net interest income up 8% and headline earnings per share (HEPS) up 11%.

The company said, "The group's credit performance resulted from improvements in SA retail portfolios, offset by the normalisation in the UK cost of credit and an increase in broader Africa mainly due to macroeconomic headwinds in Botswana. The overall group Credit Loss Ratio remains below the midpoint of its through-the-cycle (TTC) range of 80 bps to 110 bps". In our view, this is a very solid secure investment trading at a good price.

On a P:E of 12,39 and a dividend yield of 4,02% it looks like good value, especially considering the improved prospects for the South African economy following the advent of the government of national unity (GNU). In May 1989, you could have bought this share for 15c and today it trades for R92,74.

It is a long-term performer that has shown its resilience to economic recessions and political uncertainty. Technically, we see this as a buying opportunity for private investors.  

ADvTECH (ADH) is one of three listed commercial educational companies on the JSE (the others are Curro and its separately listed sister company, Stadio). ADvTECH has two divisions - a schools division (including Crawford, Trinity House and Abbots) and a tertiary division (including Varsity College, Rosebank College and a variety of specialist tertiary offerings).

The group includes 109 schools and thirty-three campuses with 78500 students. In the past, the company was supported mainly by its schools division, but in the last few years the schools division has faced increasing competition, which has squeezed margins. At the same time the tertiary division has become the company's primary source of profits.

The company's acquisition of Monash College with its IIE campus in the West Rand has added 6500 students in a state-of-the-art facility which includes laboratories, four residences and sports facilities. In its results for the six months to 30th June 2025 the company reported revenue up 10% and headline earnings per share (HEPS) up 15%.

The company said, "Operating margin in the education divisions improved to 23.8% (2024: 23.5%) through the benefit of operating leverage and a continued focus on efficiencies. This more than offset the additional costs incurred to strengthen our brands through the introduction of additional global benchmarking measures, artificial intelligence tools to support personalised learning and enhanced student information systeMs." In a trading statement for year to 31st December 2025 the company estimated that HEPS would increase by between 14% and 19%.

Technically, the share has been in a strong upward trend since the end of May 2020. It is now on a multiple (P:E) of 18,99 and we think it still has upside potential. In our view, this is a solid, blue chip company with good medium-term prospects, and it is relatively cheap. Any significant improvement in the South African economy will benefit this company directly and it will benefit directly from the newly appointed GNU.

Traditionally, parents have always been willing to make significant sacrifices to pay for their children's education, which makes this share very defensive in times of low growth. We added ADH to the Winning Shares List on 14th August 2023 at a price of 1975c. It has since moved up to 4125c (5-3-2026).