Gold and PGM Miners Lead JSE Higher on Friday

The JSE closed Friday with the All Share up 1.81%, led by a 5.38% surge in Precious Metals & Mining and a 4.80% gain in Resource 20 as gold and platinum group metal prices provided a broad tailwind to the mining sector. Harmony Gold surged 7.32% to R375.91 after guiding full-year EPS up 90–108%, the top ordinary-share mover, while Impala Platinum, Sibanye Stillwater, and AngloGold Ashanti all climbed more than 5% in sympathy. The FTSE/JSE Basic Materials index added 4.61%, and the FTSE/JSE Financials rose 0.33%, suggesting the commodity boost was the dominant market driver on the day. Property and contract drilling names lagged, with Master Drilling falling 6.50% and the SA Listed Property Index down 0.93%.

HAR Gold miner guides EPS up 90–108% on R2.07m/kg received price

Harmony Gold Mining Company Limited guided full-year EPS of 4,400–4,800 SA cents for FY26, implying 90–108% year-on-year growth, with HEPS of 4,050–4,450 cents representing 73–90% growth. The extraordinary uplift was driven by a 35.3% surge in the received gold price to R2,069,710 per kilogramme and a maiden copper contribution from the recently acquired CSA mine in Australia. The group met its annual production target for the eleventh consecutive year and held all-in sustaining costs within guidance at R1,191,698 per kilogramme. The share had already rallied 23.8% in the 20 sessions ahead of the print, meaning much of the move was anticipated, but analysts noted the magnitude of the guided earnings uplift may only partially have been reflected in that drift. A R2.8 billion impairment reversal and R1.4 billion in acquisition costs related to CSA are the key accounting items that will test the quality of the underlying earnings expansion when the full audited results are published on 27 August.

APN Aspen delivers double-digit EBITDA growth, reversing H1 decline

Aspen Pharmacare Holdings Limited guided normalised EBITDA growth of 7–12% and NHEPS from continuing operations of 784.4–817.4 cents, representing 19–24% growth that materially reversed the 25% H1 NHEPS decline. Operating leverage from efficiency projects drove the double-digit earnings expansion off a flat revenue base, while free cash flow generation excluding dividends is expected to exceed R3.7 billion with operating cash conversion above 100%. The share had sold off 9.2% in the 20 sessions ahead of publication, making the beat a genuine positive surprise against a pessimistically positioned market. Intangible-asset impairments of R2.3 billion remain a headwind to reported headline earnings, but the underlying continuing-operations story is one of genuine recovery. The audited full-year results on 2 September will test whether the free cash flow conversion and restructuring savings are durable.

ARI ARM guides HEPS up 12–22% on PGM tailwind but 18.4% pre-run-up limits upside

African Rainbow Minerals Limited guided headline earnings per share growth of 12–22%, driven by higher US dollar PGM basket prices in the financial year ended 30 June 2026. The headline basic EPS surge of 1,105–1,115% is almost entirely accounting noise from a Sakura disposal profit, a Nkomati remeasurement gain, and a depressed prior-year base caused by the Bokoni impairment — stripping out those one-offs leaves the more modest underlying improvement as the genuine operational signal. The share had already rallied 18.4% in the 20 sessions ahead of the announcement, meaning the positive operational signal was largely priced in before publication. Investors who bought over the past month have already captured much of the earnings upside, and the market will look to the condensed results on 4 September to confirm whether the PGM price tailwind is translating into operating cash flow rather than one-off accounting gains.

CCD Cell C posts HEPS +57.4% with net debt halved to R2bn

Cell C Holdings Limited reported audited full-year results with HEPS of 2,338 cents, up 57.4% from 1,485.1 cents, alongside a halving of net debt to R2.0 billion from R5.7 billion following the IPO restructuring. Revenue rose 13.5% to R12.6 billion, adjusted EBITDA grew 16.9%, wholesale revenue increased 20%, and data traffic climbed 47% — all genuine operational improvements that the flat pre-announcement share price had not reflected. However, the IFRS-to-adjusted EBITDA gap of R3.1 billion raises questions about underlying earnings quality, and FY27 guidance for upper single-digit revenue growth marks a sharp deceleration from FY26's 13.5% actual, with regulatory headwinds from data rollover rules and the termination rate glide path cited as contributing factors. No dividend was declared despite the sharp net debt reduction, and the balance sheet repair has not yet unlocked any shareholder return. The FY27 results will be the test of whether the business can sustain its recovery against tightening regulatory conditions.

SBP Sabvest Capital delivers 39.5% EPS surge and 22% NAV growth but dividend held flat

Sabvest Capital Limited reported headline earnings per share of 924.5 cents for the six months ended 30 June 2026, up 39.5% from 662.7 cents in the comparable period, while NAV per share rose 22% year-on-year to 16,940 cents. Net interest-bearing debt nearly halved to R122.2 million from R241.7 million, and transactional guarantees for investees fell sharply to R126.0 million from R539.0 million — a material clean-up of off-balance-sheet exposure. The offset is the interim dividend, which was held flat at 40 cents per share despite the surge in earnings, and the absence of a cash-flow statement in the short-form salient features leaves the market unable to confirm whether the fair-value earnings are translating into distributable cash. NAV is heavily concentrated in two unlisted fair-valued investees, meaning the reported per-share growth is partly model-dependent rather than market-cleared. The full interim report will show whether the 39.5% EPS growth converts into operating cash — the critical missing evidence the salient features omit.

TRL Trellidor swings to HEPS loss as one-off UK Project drops out

Trellidor Holdings Limited swung from a HEPS profit of 31.5 cents in FY25 to a headline loss of 13.9–20.2 cents in FY26, as the non-recurrence of a R28.5 million UK Project that had flattered the prior-year base erased the earnings position. The basic EPS loss did narrow by 49–69%, but the absolute outcome remains a loss for a small, thinly traded name, and the share had already sold off materially into the print. R16.8 million in annualised cost-reduction savings were only initiated in H2 FY26, with the full operating benefit deferred to FY27, meaning no margin improvement was visible in the reported period. Early FY27 trading showed improvement versus the prior-year corresponding period, supporting an operational turn, but the audited accounts due around 11 September are needed to confirm whether the cost base is genuinely reset and whether the balance sheet can absorb the loss year before a recovery materialises.

ISA ISA Holdings issues first trading statement guiding EPS and HEPS up more than 20%

ISA Holdings Limited issued its first trading statement for the interim period, guiding that EPS and HEPS are expected to increase by more than 20% to at least 11.28 cents per share against a prior-year reported base of 9.4 cents. EPS and HEPS rising in tandem suggests no material one-off items are distorting earnings, providing a cleaner quality-of-earnings read. The CAR-20 drift was flat at negative 0.5%, meaning the market had not positioned for this outcome, so the higher figure lands as new information rather than confirmation of an already-priced narrative — making the initial disclosure a genuine positive for a name with no meaningful prior run-up. The filing provides no revenue, margin, or segment breakdown, leaving the source of the earnings growth undisclosed at this stage. Without that detail, investors cannot yet assess the quality or sustainability of the recovery and should wait for the follow-on trading statement or audited results before drawing conclusions.

What we are watching

Next week brings a busy results season, giving investors the chance to verify whether the guidance released on Friday is supported by cash flow. Harmony Gold's full FY26 audited results are scheduled for 27 August, Aspen Pharmacare's audited results are due on 2 September, African Rainbow Minerals' full results are expected on 4 September, and Trellidor Holdings' audited FY26 results are anticipated around 11 September.