South Africa's Brimstone Investment Corporation lifted dividends 76% despite US aid cuts

Fred Robertson's Brimstone Investment Corporation collected 76.5% more in cash dividends from the companies it owns during the first half of the year, even as American funding cuts squeezed one of its main businesses.

The Cape Town investment holding company reported cash dividends of 161.4 million rand for the six months to June 30, headline earnings per share up 4% to 100.7 cents, and intrinsic net asset value per share up 11.7% to 1,103.7 cents. Finance costs fell 30.7 million rand, or 36.3%, to 50.4 million.

Robertson is the largest individual shareholder. He holds roughly 19.5% of Brimstone against about 17.8% for Mustaq Enus-Brey, the man he founded the company with in 1995, making the two co-founders the controlling shareholders in a business they have run together for three decades. Robertson serves as executive chairman and Brey as chief executive, and both also participate equally in the group's forward share plan, at 737,802 shares each.

Brey attributed the result to capital discipline, debt reduction and cost control, and said the lower finance costs and higher dividend income had strengthened the balance sheet.

The pressure came through Obsidian Health, Brimstone's medical technology and distribution business. Revenue slipped as sales in its point-of-care division fell and American funding for African health programmes was withdrawn.

Donald Trump signed an executive order in early 2025 cutting United States financial assistance to South Africa, citing the country's land expropriation policy and its case against Israel at the International Court of Justice. The cuts set back health programmes across the country, including HIV support systems and tuberculosis research.

Obsidian's response was to sell something else. Brey said the business moved into other products late last year, including blood-testing solutions, and that its profits for the first six months came in higher than the same period a year earlier despite the revenue decline.

The rest of the portfolio held up. Oceana Group, the fishing company in which Brimstone holds a stake, closed at 68.04 rand against 55.74 rand on Dec. 31, a gain of 22% in six months despite tariff pressure on exports. Brimstone also holds positions in Sea Harvest Group, where it owns 44.5% and Robertson serves as non-executive chairman, and in South African Enterprise Development.

Brey was blunt about the conditions, describing six months of trauma in the world, and pointing to fuel prices, logistics disruption and the higher cost of moving goods. On that basis, he said, a flat result against last year with a slight increase in headline earnings was a good outcome.

One investment went backwards. The South African Enterprise Development Investment Vehicle, in which Brimstone holds 25%, contributed 2.6 million rand in equity-accounted losses against 1.8 million rand of profit a year earlier. Brey said Brimstone is a passive investor there and is waiting for the right offer to exit.

Robertson said the performance showed the resilience of a diversified portfolio and the value of a long-term approach, pointing to the growth in intrinsic net asset value and the continued cash generation from core investments. He said the group remained committed to what he described as a philosophy of profitability, empowerment and positive social impact.

Brimstone was among the first black-owned investment holding companies established in post-apartheid South Africa, and Robertson and Brey have held it together since October 1995. Robertson is 71 and Brey is 71.