Greystone Partners remain committed to their core objective of cultivating and expanding a diversified portfolio of material equity positions in unlisted companies.
Their investment approach is driven by careful selection, focusing on entities with a strong track record of growth or promising future potential. According to their financial statement for the year ended June 30, these investments are actively managed through all phases of their lifecycle, providing investors with unique access to an asset class that is traditionally difficult to penetrate.
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The entity recorded E778 million group revenue while investment income stood at E7.9 million and equity investments were valued at E763.5 million.
Greystone’s portfolio benefitted from a more stable macroeconomic environment, with Lojaf delivering strong interim results, with profit after tax supported by like-for-like turnover growth and EBITDA growth exceeding 2%.
This performance has been driven by initiatives that enhance customer experience, improve value offerings and secure an amended franchise agreement.
“At the consolidated group level, revenue, cost of sales and operating expenses are largely attributable to GAFE and Lojaf, as these entities are recognised on a consolidated basis. Greystone Company’s balance sheet remains conservatively leveraged with total assets of E517 million, liabilities of E81.9 million and equity of E435.2 million.
Management is currently in the process of refinancing a large portion of debt on the balance sheet. This debt was raised as supplemental capital that was deployed in historic years into portfolio investments and includes the bridge financing which is anticipated to be settled within the next month,” reads the statement.
Meanwhile, cash and cash equivalents amounted to E24.1 million for the group and E2.2 million for the company. Building on this momentum, Lojaf is expanding its portfolio and will be opening a new grocery and liquor store in Siteki, as well as a smaller Pak n Pay Go format store in Nkonyeni.
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Pick n Save, a subsidiary of Lojaf continues to operate in a competitive retail environment. However, Greystone remains confident that the business is well positioned to return to profitability.
With three locations in South Africa, Pak n Save is on track to significantly outperform the prior year’s results, despite a slow start to the 2025 financial year.
According to the statement, Eswatini Royal Insurance Corporation, Alliance Foods, Ngwane Mills, Orchard Insurance and SBC continue to perform well producing robust results.
The portfolio continues to invest locally driving economic growth and job creation, with Alliance Foods opening three new restaurants and Ngwane Mills, further investing in its already substantial infrastructure.
Despite setbacks evident from the General Africa Foods Eswatini (Pty) Ltd impairment in the 2024 financial year, they retained confidence in the underlying potential of this unit and are dedicated to investing the effort required to rebuild customer trust and position the Afri Pack Brand for sustainable success.
Greystone reiterated its committed to exchanging its Alliance Foods shareholding for Inala Capital shares, as part of a broader consolidation strategy.
Alliance Foods has performed well in the quick service restaurant sector, though profitability has been impacted by capital structure considerations from acquiring 46 additional KFC restaurants in South Africa.
Greystone has also secured the requisite approvals to proceed with the proposed transactions detailed in the fourth quarter of 2024 shareholder circular.
Furthermore, a complete divestment of Ngwane Mills would be undertaken, facilitating continued participation in Alliance Foods’ next growth phase and generating a liquidity event through the sale of Ngwane Mills shares.
“The board and the manager are optimistic about future prospects. The portfolio is well-positioned to capitalise on anticipated macroeconomic improvements, including the emergence of a growing middle class, further urbanisation, technology adoption and increased formalisation of informal trade.
The directors and management of Greystone Partners Limited reaffirm their commitment to the highest standards of corporate governance, embracing the principles of openness, integrity and accountability as advocated by the King IV Report,” further reads the statement.
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