Five JSE stocks which more than doubled investors’ money in a year

The five top-performing shares on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) in 2024 were Kore Potash, Stefanutti Stocks, Nampak, Altron, and Premier Group.

South Africa’s stock market performed strongly in the second half of the year after a favourable election and the Government of National Unity (GNU).

As international investors saw value in South Africa’s bond and equity markets, money started to flow into the country.

Many South African stocks were undervalued, and investors felt they could achieve better returns in local stocks than in other markets, which are trading at high valuations.

Many South African shares achieved strong growth in 2024 following the formation of the GNU.

The top performers include companies from different sectors, including mining, construction, information technology, and food manufacturing.

Kore Potash, a mining company incorporated in the United Kingdom developing a potash project in the Republic of Congo, was the top performer with 383% price growth in 2024.

The company signed a major engineering, procurement and construction contract in November last year with PowerChina.

The contract, which has a fixed price of around R36 billion, has the potential to significantly expand the group’s potash production.

Stefanutti Stocks’ share price increased by 217% as the company progressed with its restructuring plan and shook off its technical insolvency.

Stefanutti Stocks’ plan consists of disposing of non-core assets to repay its interest-bearing debt.

The group has claims of at least R1.6 billion against Eskom for losses experienced during the construction of the Kusile power plant.

In May 2024, Stefanutti said that it expected the Dispute Adjudication Board (DAB) to make a binding decision on these claims, which helped the company’s prospects.

Nampak, Africa’s leading packaging company, posted strong results in 2024, which helped the company’s share price rally by 120%.

The company disposed of underperforming assets and turned profitable in its latest 2024 full-year results.

Nampak reported a profit before tax of R784 million compared to 2023’s loss before tax of R2.2 billion.

Altron, one of South Africa’s largest technology companies, made shareholders happy last year with 117% share price growth.

Altron has experienced significant profitability improvements from its continuing operations in 2024.

The group reported a loss from its total operations in its February year-end results. However, strong profits were reported in its continuing operations.

By its interim period, the group reported profitability from its total operations, significantly improving from the loss it reported in 2023.

Premier Group, one of South Africa’s largest and most successful food manufacturers, achieved a share price growth of 116%.

The share price rallied after the company reported a 30% increase in its profit before tax, which resulted in a 35% increase in its basic earnings per share.

The table below shows the top-performing shares on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange in 2024.