Our opinion on the current state of CKS

Crookes Brothers (CKS) is an agricultural and property company which was formed in 1913 and listed on the JSE in 1948. The company produces sugar cane, bananas, macadamia nuts, deciduous fruit and has a property division. The company owns Renshaw farm which consists of 1800 hectares between Scottburgh and Umkomaas. Of this, 266 hectares has been re-zoned for development, of which 52 hectares is the subject of a contested land claim. The company has decided to sell the 28 hectares which is being developed as Renshaw Hills, a 500-unit residential development. The deciduous fruit operation consists of 5 farms in the Western Cape with 43 hectares of deciduous orchards. The macadamias are grown on a farm in Mozambique on a 99-year lease. The sugarcane operation is on 4 leased farms in Mpumalanga plus other farms in KwaZulu Natal, Swaziland and Zambia. In its results for the year to 31st March 2023 the company reported revenue up 7% and a headline loss of 708,8c per share compared with a profit of 229,6c in the previous year. The company's net asset value (NAV) fell 12% to 6608c per share. The company said, "Geo-political and weather events beyond the group’s control, together with the impact of loadshedding, have negatively impacted on earnings and cash flows for the year under review". In a trading statement for the six months to 30th September 2023 the company estimated that headline earnings per share (HEPS) would be 321,2c compared with a loss of 193,7c in the previous period. A problem with this share is that it is relatively tightly held. The average value of shares changing hands each day is about R107 000 but on many days it does not trade at all. This generally makes it riskier even for private investors.