{"id":834550,"date":"2025-08-12T16:22:17","date_gmt":"2025-08-12T14:22:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=834550"},"modified":"2025-08-12T20:58:15","modified_gmt":"2025-08-12T18:58:15","slug":"investors-betting-big-on-the-tiger","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/business-opinion\/834550\/investors-betting-big-on-the-tiger\/","title":{"rendered":"Investors betting big on The Tiger"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Allan Gray is bullish on Tiger Brands’ turnaround, with the company seeing its share price double since new management took over.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tiger Brands is ubiquitous in South Africans’ lives. It owns large and iconic brands like Albany, All Gold, Black Cat, Doom, Energade, Jungle Oats, Mrs H.S. Balls, Oros, Koo, Maynards, and many more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite its brands being found in most South African households, the company faced extreme pressures over the last decade. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the 2010s, the company suffered due to failed forays into Africa. It bought Nigeria\u2019s Dangote Flour Mills for R1.6 billion, but was forced to sell it for a symbolic $1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2018, a listeria outbreak was traced to one of its meat facilities, which killed over 200 people. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“It is unclear whether this was a coincidence or a symptom of a greater issue,” said Andrew McGregor, Equity Analyst at Allan Grey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“What was true was that price had been pushed too far, plants hadn\u2019t been maintained properly, and management had become complacent.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Between the 2017 and 2023 financial years, six of the 12 operating segments at Tiger Brands had double-digit declines in operating profit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The profit from bakeries, its largest segment, dropped by two-thirds; the groceries business profit nearly halved. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The group’s earnings were under extreme pressure, and the share price fell from a high of R470 to a low of R136. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“It certainly appeared as if the Tiger had been tamed,” said McGregor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Big turnaround <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n
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Andrew McGregor, Equity Analyst at Allan Gray<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

However, the tides started to turn in late 2023, when Tjaart Kruger was announced as the new CEO of Tiger Brands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ironically, Kruger was partly responsible for the Tiger Brands\u2019 downfall due to his successful leadership at bakery competitor, Premier, which plied the pressure on the group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, now at the helm of the Tiger, Kruger\u2019s plan to fix the company focused on four key steps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n