Best and worst shares

There are a few penny stocks that show larger gains.

- Adriaan Kruger

The performance of the JSE during the first half of 2024 would have shattered any investor's dream of ordering a new Porsche this year. Overall, the market returned less than 4% since January, with the JSE All Share Index increasing by only 3.7%.

There were a few penny stocks that showed much larger gains, but on such small volumes that the profits would hardly buy a new mountain bike.

The best-performing share was Sable Exploration & Mining (Seam), which was up 567% from 15 cents to the current R1. It was as low as four cents some eight months ago. But the average trading volume is barely 2 800 shares per day.

While Seam is progressing with a magnetite plant that it hopes will produce profit soon, and reported much lower losses in its last financial year, the sharp rise in the share price is largely as a result of corporate restructuring and an effective change in ownership after a rights issue.

Similar unusual factors were behind the sharp increases in the prices of other shares on the list of biggest price increases over the last six months.

Quantum Foods increased by more than 200% over the six months to R13.50, while it has been even higher at nearly R19. The strong increase pushed the price-earnings ratio to nearly 1000 times not because of excellent prospects, but because of an ongoing fight for control of the food producer.