JSE Top 40 over 30 Years
Almost three decades ago, in 1995, the JSE looked a lot different than it is now!
Anglo American, Richemont, Standard Bank, Sasol, Nedcor, Absa and Gold Fields are the only companies that still make the cut. Other companies that still feature but were acquired or have since changed include:
- SAB
- Rembrandt
- Gencor
- Liberty Holdings
- First National Bank
Mining was the leading industry and Anglo American was the leader of the JSE with a R51.3 billion market cap, which would be about R243 billion today. The miner held ownership in four Top 20 JSE-listed companies including Minorco in Luxembourg and some financial services providers. In 2024, 12 mining groups, in gold and platinum, are still on the Top 40.
The top four banks, including FNB which is now part of FirstRand, are still in the Top 40 along with new addition, Capitec, sitting at a R237 billion market cap.
Shoprite, Clicks and Pepkor run the retail industry today. In 1995, it was the now defunct Edcon, which was then the only one in the Top 40.
Take a look at how the first 20 companies of the JSE Top 40 looked in 1995, with their market cap then, what they would be worth now, and what has since happened to some of those businesses:
JSE Top 40 in 1995
| Company | Market Cap | Market cap (inflation-adjusted) | Subsequent events |
| Anglo American | R51.3bn | R243bn | |
| De Beers Consolidated Mines | R42bn | R199bn | Acquired by Anglo in 2011 |
| South African Breweries | R39.6bn | R188bn | Acquired by AB InBev in 2016 |
| Richemont | R28.7bn | R136bn | |
| Liberty Life Assurance | R27.6bn | R131bn | Acquired by Standard Bank in 2021 |
| Minorco | R23.8bn | R113bn | Merged with Anglo American in 1998 |
| Standard Bank | R20.9bn | R99bn | |
| Rembrandt Group | R18.3bn | R87bn | Split into Remgro and VenFin in 2000 |
| Sasol | R17.8bn | R84bn | |
| Gencor | R17.6bn | R84bn | Eventually became BHP |
| Liberty Holdings | R14.6bn | R69bn | Eventually became UK property-focused Liberty International, which became Intu and Capital & Counties (today Shaftesbury Capital) |
| First National Bank | R14.6bn | R69bn | Eventually became a subsidiary of FirstRand |
| Nedcor | R13.4bn | R63bn | Since renamed Nedbank |
| CG Smith | R13.2bn | R63bn | Unbundled its subsidiaries Tiger, Nampak and Illovo in 2000 |
| Beverage Consolidated Industrial Holdings | R13bn | R62bn | Became Amalgamated Beverage Industries Limited (ABI), acquired by SAB in 2004 and later by Coca-Cola in 2017 |
| Amalgamated Banks of South Africa | R11.9bn | R56bn | Since renamed Absa |
| Anglo American Investment Trust | R11.8bn | R56bn | Merged into Anglo |
| Anglo American Industrial Corp | R11bn | R52bn | Merged into Anglo in 1999 |
| Gold Fields | R10.6bn | R50bn | |
| Barlow | R10.5bn | R50bn | Since renamed Barloworld |
* Source: Moneyweb
** This information does not constitute financial advice of any nature whatsoever. The decision to invest, and the suitability of any investment choice is solely your responsibility.
BCS Markets SA (Pty) Ltd. is an authorized Financial Service Provider and is regulated by the South African Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSP No.51404). BCS Markets SA Proprietary Limited trading as BROKSTOCK.
The materials on this website (the “Site”) are intended for informational purposes only. Use of and access to the Site and the information, materials, services, and other content available on or through the Site (“Content”) are subject to the laws of South Africa.
Risk notice Margin trading in financial instruments carries a high level of risk, and may not be suitable for all users. It is essential to understand that investing in financial instruments requires extensive knowledge and significant experience in the investment field, as well as an understanding of the nature and complexity of financial instruments, and the ability to determine the volume of investment and assess the associated risks. BCS Markets SA (Pty) Ltd pays attention to the fact that quotes, charts and conversion rates, prices, analytic indicators and other data presented on this website may not correspond to quotes on trading platforms and are not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The delay of the data in relation to real-time is equal to 15 minutes but is not limited. This indicates that prices may differ from actual prices in the relevant market, and are not suitable for trading purposes. Before deciding to trade the products offered by BCS Markets SA (Pty) Ltd., a user should carefully consider his objectives, financial position, needs and level of experience. The Content is for informational purposes only and it should not construe any such information or other material as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice. BCS Markets SA (Pty) Ltd will not accept any liability for loss or damage as a result of reliance on the information contained within this Site including data, quotes, conversion rates, etc.
Third party content BCS Markets SA (Pty) Ltd. may provide materials produced by third parties or links to other websites. Such materials and websites are provided by third parties and are not under BCS Markets SA (Pty) Ltd.'s direct control. In exchange for using the Site, the user agrees not to hold BCS Markets SA (Pty) Ltd., its affiliates or any third party service provider liable for any possible claim for damages arising from any decision user makes based on information or other Content made available to the user through the Site.
Limitation of liability The user’s exclusive remedy for dissatisfaction with the Site and Content is to discontinue using the Site and Content. BCS Markets SA (Pty) Ltd. is not liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, consequential, special or punitive damages. Working with BCS Markets SA you are trading share CFDs. When trading CFDs on shares you do not own the underlying asset. Share CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. A high percentage of retail traders accounts lose money when trading CFDs with their provider. All rights reserved. Any use of Site materials without permission is prohibited.