Our opinion on the current state of YORK(YRK)York Timber Holdings (YRK) is a forestry company that owns plantations and processing plants, as well as a wholesaling distribution network. It is the biggest player in the South African plywood and timber market. The company was founded by a Russian immigrant, Herman Katzenellenbogen, in 1916 and was listed on the JSE in 1946.
The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA) is the majority union at the company. York has been impacted by the general decline in the construction industry since the sub-prime crisis in 2008. In July 2007, York's shares reached a peak at R40. Since then, the share has mostly been falling or drifting sideways.
On 13th May 2022, the company announced that a strike at its Escarpment operations would negatively impact production. Escarpment contributes 51% of the company's revenue. On 5th December 2022, the company announced its intention to conduct a rights issue to raise R250m. Existing shareholders would receive 43.12791 new shares for every 100 shares already held at a price of 175c each. The announcement caused the share price to drop sharply.
In its results for the year to 30th June 2024, the company reported revenue up 5% and headline earnings per share (HEPS) of 30.11c compared with a loss of 75.89c in the previous period. The main contributor to profit was a R254.6m revaluation of the company's "biological assets"—which likely refers to their forests.
In a trading statement for the six months to 31st December 2024, the company estimated that HEPS would be between 14.22c and 14.45c compared with 4.67c in the previous period. The company has about R186,000 worth of shares changing hands each day, making it practical for investment by private investors.
It remains a volatile, construction-linked counter. We recommended waiting for a clear break up through its downward trendline before investigating further. That break happened on 19th April 2024 at 165c per share. It has since moved up to 248c and then slumped back to 210c. We do not see this as an exciting investment.