Brait’s share price fell 4.6% on Tuesday to close on a 52-week low of R62.51, as a substantial reduction in the value of New Look — the UK retailer for which it paid handsomely — caused a plunge in the group’s year-end net asset value. For the year to March, Brait’s net asset value per share slid 42.6% to R78.15. It was hit by rand strength and an 80% year-on-year decline in the value of New Look to R7bn — less than half what it paid for it. This has raised questions about whether New Look, for which Brait coughed up £763m in 2015, was a mistake by business doyen Christo Wiese, who held a 35% interest in the investment holding company. "Time will tell whether [New Look] has been an investment mistake, but the risk of it having a material effect on future returns is now a lot lower," said Nic Norman-Smith, chief investment officer at Lentus Asset Management.
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