JSE’s Top 25 Losers last year: Unlucky ’13 for miners; but could it be rebound time?

The year 2013 is one miners will want to forget. Quickly. It was their Annus Horribilis with billions wiped off the value of JSE-listed resources companies. The evidence is clear in our table of the 25 worst performing stocks of 2013 –  19 of them engaged in mining. Gold shares were especially hard hit with the country's three major gold companies occupying positions 7, 9 and 15 in 2013's Hall of Shame. What goes down usually comes back up. After the past year's hammering, value investors will doubtless see the resources sector as an opportunity.

Indeed, so hard was the resources sector hit that non-mining companies needed to fail spectacularly to make the list. Robert Gumede's personal injection of a further R75m into Gijima will hearten his supporters, but not many of them are left on the JSE. African Bank (ABIL) was a sensational disaster while Jannie Mouton must be wondering how his PSG Group got it so wrong with the investment into Erbacon, one of his rare misses. Ditto Ivan Clark of Grindrod fame who must be wondering whether Chemspec, which he almost single handedly propped up, will ever repay his faith. – AH

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