The Daily Edge: SpaceX lists Friday, Iran strikes Hormuz, and SPAR's unlikely share price rally

Listen here.BizNews editor Alec Hogg unpacks a day when geopolitics, markets and history collided. SPAR's SA operating profit collapsed 73% — yet the stock rallied on relief. Afrimat's Competition Tribunal disposal barely moved the needle. MTN laid out its Ambition 2030 strategy and the market sold the news. Then the big stories: US and Iranian forces exchanged strikes near the Strait of Hormuz, Bill Gates faced Congress over his Epstein ties, and SpaceX set a fixed IPO price of $135 — with $250bn of demand for a $75bn raise. Friday's listing could be the most consequential in a generation..Local / JSESPAR Group (JSE: SPP)Interim results H1 2026SA operating profit: −73%Share: +1.6% — relief rally on no-surprise printUK disposal: Confirmed to A.F. Blakemore"The SA margins are paper-thin. But the stock was already pricing in catastrophe. The question is whether management can execute — and the UK sale shows they're at least trying."Afrimat (JSE: AFT)Competition Tribunal disposalTotal consideration: R215m (R160m upfront cash)Share: −0.7% | Light volume | Down ~40% past year"Indifferent market. The deal was already in the price. You're buying Afrimat — or not — on your view of when SA infrastructure spend turns. That day hasn't come."MTN Group (JSE: MTN)Capital Markets Day / Ambition 2030Share buyback to 2028: R6bnMoMo target: 100m MAUs by 2030Share: −1.9% | Range-bound last 30 days"Buy the rumour, sell the news. Africa's digital story is real — but MTN has tripped on execution before. The market's 'show me' until earnings confirm the targets."Sanlam (JSE: SLM)Climate Disclosures Report 2025Share YTD: −14%Share on day: +0.2% | Below-average volumeSustainable AUM: R960bn | GEV: R186bnEmissions: Down 26% against target"The market is completely indifferent. Emissions down 26% against target — credible ESG progress. But the next price catalyst is a macro shift, not a climate report."InsertsBloomberg: US and Iran exchange strikes near Strait of HormuzIran shot down a US Apache helicopter off Oman. Trump ordered precision strikes on Iranian air defence sites near Hormuz. Iran retaliated against regional US targets. A two-month truce is fracturing. Oil, metals and equities under pressure. Centcom called it proportional — but proportional responses have a way of escalating.Bloomberg: Bill Gates testifies before Congress on Epstein linksClosed-door appearance before House Oversight Committee. Gates appears in Epstein files thousands of times — calendar entries, emails and event photos linking the two from 2011 to 2014. Not accused of wrongdoing by Epstein victims. Gates: "Every minute I spent with him I regret." Watch reputational risk to the Gates Foundation.Global MarketsSpaceX IPO (Nasdaq: SPCX)Pricing Thursday · Debut Friday 12 JuneRaise: $75bn — largest in market historyPrice: $135 fixedValuation: ~$1.75 trillionDemand: $250bn on a $75bn raiseRetail allocation: 30%"Musk set the price, told Wall Street to take it or leave it, and got $250bn of demand for a $75bn raise. That's the kind of power no issuer has had in living memory. Friday is a date worth marking."

The Daily Edge: SpaceX lists Friday, Iran strikes Hormuz, and SPAR's unlikely share price rally

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