Since the opening bell on 3 January 2025, no fewer than 30 stocks on the JSE ended the year more than 50% higher. Eight ended down more than 50%. Picture: iStock It would be fairly safe to assume that very few investors – if any – expected that Botswana retailer Choppies Enterprises would be the best-performing share on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) in 2025.
An increase of nearly 900% in the share price from 80 cents in January to almost R8 on the last trading day of the year was unbeatable. The share had doubled from 80 cents in January to R1.60 by June, then started to run hard after the publication of the group’sresults for the year to June 2025in the last week of September. The annual results alone do not explain the share’s sharp rise.
Things seem to be running relatively smooth at the chain of 287 stores operating in Botswana, Zambia and Namibia, but the group posted a 23% drop in profit in its financial year to June 2025. The statistics suggest that Choppies is unlikely to be on the list of the best shares at the end of 2026. The increase in the share price places it on a price-to-earnings ratio of 62 times and the share currently trades at a price-to-net-asset-value of 31 times.
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The relatively small retail chain is valued at R14.5 billion. The increase in precious metal prices and the run in mining shares was easier to predict at the beginning of 2025. Gold started its strong rally during 2024 and the momentum was obvious at the beginning of 2025 – it went on to increase another 65% to consecutive new record highs and ended the year at $4 320 per ounce.
It was only a matter of time before platinum group metals followed gold with a rally, starting in the middle of the year. The platinum price increased 130% from $914 per ounce in January to $2 060 at year end, palladium ran 84% to $1 633 and rhodium doubled to $9 175 per ounce. The strong prices led to a surge in the share prices of Eastern Platinum and Sibanye-Stillwater of more than 300%, while those of Northam Platinum, Implats (Impala Platinum), Southern Palladium and Valterra Platinum increased sharply too.
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