The JSE all share index (Alsi) rose by a very pedestrian 8% between April 1 2007 and March 31 2008, the period which Top Companies uses for selecting its elites. That followed a rise of 34% the previous year. But this broad figure masks an intensely volatile ride. The Alsi rose by 15% from April to October, after which it plummeted by almost 20% to end-January this year. From its January trough to its March peak, it rose by almost 24%. Generally speaking, resources stocks were responsible for the bulk of the improvement in the Alsi.

Many of last year's top 20 companies managed to out-perform the Alsi, and most of those did so by a very wide margin. But quite a few also went backwards. The best performers, not surprisingly, were in metals, minerals and resources.

Merafe Resources and Highveld both rose by more than 100%. Next best was ArcelorMittal. Aquarius Platinum and BHP Billiton rose by more than 47%.

Grindrod, last year's number one, enjoyed a 29% improvement in its share price, while MTN's great results helped its stock rise by 25%. MTN was recently the subject of a bid by Bharti Airtel of India, but this came long after March 31. MTN is currently in negotiations with the Reliance Group, another Indian company.

There were three retailers in last year's Top Companies - Edcon, Foschini and Iliad. Edcon was bought out in a private equity deal and was delisted. Foschini fell by 44% and Iliad fell by 35%.

The Foschini fall is understandable, considering that it struggled in an environment of rising interest rates. But the Iliad slump seems unjustified. It's a major player in the home improvement industry, which is still going strong, virtually regardless of rising rates.

Atlas Properties disappeared from the boards, swallowed up by Acucap in September last year. Acucap liked Atlas's predominantly Cape-based properties, as they complemented its mainly Gauteng operations.

Sentula, formerly Scharrig Mining, had a reversal of fortune. It's been a regular inclusion in Top Companies and Top Performers in recent years, but its share price fell by -1,6% last year. This seems incongruous, considering that it's a well run company, operating in a sector - mining services - that's going places fast.

Conventional wisdom until the end of May was that two of its largest shareholders, Jonah Capital and Coronation Capital, reduced their shareholdings significantly, and this event was partly responsible for the fall. The group has also made significant acquisitions that have yet to contribute to the bottom line. Very wet weather also played havoc with its open-cast coal operations between January and March.

In early June, the company issued a profit warning, which included a downwards restatement of the previous year's figures. It said the financial results were negatively affected by the dilutionary effect of a 33% increase in the weighted average number of shares in issue.

These were issued to fund a number of acquisitions concluded during the 2008 financial year, as well as to develop the group's coal assets.

The share price plummeted to a level last seen about 18 months previously. It will be interesting to see where this share ends up in next year's rankings.