Alec Hogg: Real-life business stories can be real exciting. Ask Tongaat.

They tend to steer away from emotion at SABMiller, the world class corporation which shaped Gavin Hudson who is leading Tongaat-Hullett's rescue. So it's instructive to read the latest annual report where Hudson describes the impact of his predecessor's financial mismanagement as "devastating" and pushing the group to "the brink of catastrophe".

Read also: Alec Hogg: One accelerated trend investors seem to have missed. For now.

The graph below showing Tongaat Hulett's market cap in the past decade tells the story. When it comes to fallen angels, few JSE-listed companies come close. But after Tongaat's success last month in the dispute on the sale of its starch business, there's now a glimmer of light.

The net R5bn in cash from the sale of the business to Barloworld will cut the group's debt burden by around half to R6bn. The annual report puts Tongaat's property holdings alone as being worth R11bn. Deduct the debt and we're left with property assets worth 5x the market cap – without the core sugar business.

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