It’s important to tread carefully
Turnarounds: Which dog will have its day?
The industrial landscape, in parts, looks like a sprawling junkyard. Is it worth picking through some of the smouldering wrecks?
TORRE INDUSTRIES Share price: 139c JSE code: TOR BUY THIS INDUSTRIAL SUPPLIES conglomerate has been hammered in the market over the past 12 to 18 months. But when the results to end-June were published, the damage (especially to margins and the balance sheet) was not as bad as the share price indicated. It seems likely that a degeared Torre, after a period of much-needed introspection, will start hunting niche acquisitions again. The overall impression is that the new management team, under deputy executive chairman Jon Hillary, has restored a reassuring calm to Torre’s operations. A final dividend declaration certainly hints that the executive is fairly confident. The recent acquisition of Top Class Automotive (for a nominal sum of R1) and Transformer Chemistry Services for R17m suggests any acquisition drive will be highly selective and cautiously executed. Operationally, it seems the right knobs have been tweaked, with an improved gross margin of 37% (previously 34%) and operati...
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