Brimstone Investment Corporation CEO Mustaq Brey
Image: Supplied
Brimstone Investment Corporation, the JSE-listed Western Cape-headquartered black-controlled and black-managed company, lifted headline earnings a share (Heps) 98% in the year to December 31, a turnaround driven by strong results from its fishing interests in particular.
The improvement in Heps to 213,6 cents was driven mainly by strong performance at Sea Harvest and supported by lower finance and operating costs at Brimstone, and arose even though debt was reduced significantly.
“Brimstone delivered a strong performance, with an attributable profit of R44 million, compared to a loss of R200,4m in the prior year. This profit was driven primarily by the performance of associate company, Sea Harvest,” CEO Mustaq Brey said in an interview.
Debt was cut by R520,3m – the group exceeded its three-year debt reduction target of R600m by December 2025, and the group was comfortable with the remaining debt of about R1.2bn, said Brey.
In the last two years alone, over R1bn had been repaid to funders. The proceeds of the sale of part of a stake in Oceana contributed to this debt reduction, he said.
Brimstone sold 11,95 million shares in Oceana for R633,4m cash in December 2025. It retains 20,8 million shares or a 16% stake in Oceana, with a market value of R1,2 billion at year end.
Oceana’s share price closed at R55,74 per share, down from R67,48 per share at December 31, 2024. Brimstone recognised R181m (2024: R299,6m) as its share of profits of the associate based on Oceana’s reported profit for the year to September 30, 2025. Brimstone received cash dividends of R72,4mn (R162m) from Oceana during the year.
Brimstone held 159,6 million shares or 44,2% stake in Sea Harvest with a market value of R1,5 billion at year end (R1,3bn). Sea Harvest’s share price closed at R9,49 per share, up from R8,35 per share at December 31, 2024.
Brimstone recognised R151,5m (R111,4m) as its share of profits of the associate based on Sea Harvest’s profit for the year to December 31, 2025. Brimstone received cash dividends of R35,1m (R63,8m) from Sea Harvest during the year. Brey said Sea Harvest was benefiting from strong demand for hake in Europe, as the cod season was bad in the northern hemisphere currently.
Brimstone’s 18% stake in Aon Re Africa, a reinsurance broker in Sub-Saharan Africa and the rest of Africa, contributed R20,8m (R21,3m) to profits and a dividend of R20,2m (R24,3m) in the year.
Brimstone holds 10% in FPG Property Fund, a Cape-based, black-owned and managed unlisted property fund specialising in the retail convenience market. It owns 35 convenience shopping centres in South Africa with an expanding footprint in the UK.
The property portfolio is valued in excess of R12bn. Brimstone’s stake in FPG was revalued upwards by R52m to R492,4m at year end. Brimstone received a dividend of R6,1m (R5,3m) from FPG during the year.
FPG Investments, in which Brimstone owns a stake, also owns 87% of FPG Foods, which owns and operates 71 franchised fast-food retail outlets in SA and the UK; and 30% of Polar Ice Cream, an ice cream manufacturer with over 100 retail outlets in South Africa. This investment was revalued upwards by R6,3m to R56,3m. Brimstone received a R1m (R0,4m) dividend from FPG Investments through the year.
Brimstone’s subsidiary Obsidian Health, a supplier of healthcare solutions to both the private and public healthcare sectors in Sub-Saharan Africa, contributed R20m (R13,8m) to group profit. Brimstone received a cash dividend of R4,9m (R3,5m) from Obsidian.
Brey said he was concerned about the global geopolitical outlook, and the potential impact on South Africa, both in terms of transport hubs that may be impacted, rising fuel prices and possible impact on inflation in the months ahead.
“We are encouraged by the early signs of a more supportive macroeconomic environment, structural reforms in the energy and logistics sectors, SA’s successful exit from the FATF grey list and the sovereign credit rating upgrade,” he said.
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