Business News Leaders

SA construction companies go bust

South Africa's construction sector is facing severe headwinds. The industry has had to content with a lack of infrastructure spending, a shrinking economy and slow payments from the private and public sector, which could see many investors shy away from construction stocks. Arthur Karas from Old Mutual Investment Group however…

6 Jun 2019 3AM 5 min

SARB should consider printing money - ANC NEC

Reserve Bank Governor, Lesetja Kganyago has dismissed quantitative easing as an option to revive the economy. This after ANC Secretary General, Ace Magashule announced that a ta​sk team would be put together to explore the idea. Quantitative easing helped the United States bounce back after the financial crisis, and also…

6 Jun 2019 2AM 8 min

Sacci BCI edges lower in May

The SA Chamber of Commerce and Industry's (Sacci) business confidence index (BCI) declined to 93.0 points in May from 93.7 in April. The figure is below the five-month average of 93.4 points, and below the average 95.5 points seen throughout the course of 2018. Subdued global economic activity has caused…

5 Jun 2019 2AM 8 min

The blunt facts about cannabis investments

Cannabis has been smouldering in the financial markets of late. There have been some exciting IPOs, some crazy valuations, and some zero-to-hero, back-to-zero share-price movements. Undoubtedly there is opportunity, but Petri Redelinghuys from Herenya Capital Advisors says that getting your head around it is a bit more difficult than you’d…

5 Jun 2019 2AM 5 min

SA's economy contracts 3.2% in the first quarter

SA’s economy contracted 3.2% in the first quarter of 2019, marking the biggest quarterly decline in a decade. This as all industries except government, finance and personal services contracted during the period. The Reserve Bank recently cut its growth forecast for this year to 1% from 1.3% while Treasury expects…

4 Jun 2019 2AM 8 min

Gauging Mantashe's ability to recharge the energy sector

Gwede Mantashe will hold onto the reins as the head of government's mining portfolio while taking on the responsibility for South Africa's energy plans as well. This has sparked some unease with energy analyst Chris Yelland recently commenting that the merged portfolio could bring huge disruptions to the country's energy…

4 Jun 2019 2AM 6 min

Absa PMI falls to near seven-month low in May

The Absa purchasing managers’ index fell to 45.4 index points in May from 47.2 points in April, bringing the average for the first two months of SA’s second quarter to 46.3 points, below the average 47.1 points in the first. May's number is only 0.4 index points from a March…

3 Jun 2019 2AM 7 min

Delta Property Fund forecasts lower earnings in 2020

In the year to end-February 2019, Delta Property Fund’s distributable earnings declined to 73.84c a share from 97.24c previously. Net property income declined 9.7% in the year. The company said its property valuations decreased by R227m, partly because of the slow pace of lease renewals by the department of public…

3 Jun 2019 2AM 8 min

PSA urges PIC to sell its Eskom debt

The Public Servants Association says that it wants the Public Investment Corporation to stop investing in the debt of Eskom as it exposes pensioners to excessive risk as the state-owned power company is not selling enough electricity to cover its costs and has had to be bailed out by the…

3 Jun 2019 2AM 8 min

Mantashe appointed Minister of Minerals and Energy

Although the mining industry has welcomed the return of Minister Gwede Mantashe to the mineral resources portfolio, the decision to merge it with energy has sparked unease. Energy analyst Chris Yelland has commented that the expansion of Mantashe’s portfolio could bring huge disruptions to South Africa’s energy policy. Yelland joined…

31 May 2019 2AM 8 min

Stefanutti Stocks mulls share issue after cash balance falls

South Africa's construction industry has been hobbled in recent years by a lack of infrastructure spending, tepid economic growth and slow payments from the private and public sectors and Stefanutti Stocks' annual results lay this picture bare. For the full year, it's reported a net loss of R111m and to…

30 May 2019 2AM 8 min

Ramaphosa keeps his clean-up team in key cabinet posts

On Wednesday evening President Cyril Ramaphosa announced a reduced executive, with a few changes within the economic cluster. Including the merger of Trade and Industry with Economic Development. Ramaphosa's "clean-up" team have still kept their cabinet posts as Tito Mboweni retains his finance minster title and Pravin Gordhan still heading…

30 May 2019 2AM 6 min

Hedging losses hurt Life Healthcare's interim net pfofit

Hedging losses have dealt a blow to Life Healthcare's interim profit with headline earnings per share falling back close to 50%. This was partly due to a R370m fair-value loss on derivative financial instruments including mark-to-market loss on foreign-exchange option contracts which were taken out to protect the proceeds of…

30 May 2019 2AM 7 min

Nampak not ready to pay dividends as Zim currency crisis persists

Nampak says the past six months were challenging for a number of its key businesses. Profit from continuing operations fell by 9% due to currency volatility issues and weaker economic growth prospects on the continent, with the exception of Nigeria. Business Day TV sat down with Nampak CEO Andre de…

30 May 2019 2AM 7 min

Will Ramaphosa's new cabinet revive SA's economy?

President Cyril Ramaphosa has announced a reduced executive, with Tito Mboweni returning as finance minister and Pravin Gordhan in the public enterprises portfolio. The executive has been cut to 28 ministries and a number of portfolios have been merged. Business Day TV spoke to Lumkile Mondi, Senior Lecturer at the…

30 May 2019 2AM 8 min

Famous Brands resumes dividend payments

Famous Brands has reported a 19% slide in annual headline earnings per share and a basic loss per share of 480c largely due to impairments relating to the group's struggling Gourmet Burger Kitchen (GBK) unit. But Famous Brands is hopeful that the situation at GBK is turning around. In the…

29 May 2019 2AM 9 min

Vukile gears up for growth in SA and Spain

Vukile Property Fund has delivered 7.5% growth in annual dividends. In a statement, the property company noted that its impressive set of results reflects the significant benefits of its growing international diversification and value-adding asset management in Spain. Vukile CEO Laurence Rapp added that the past 12 months had been…

29 May 2019 2AM 7 min

Suspended Old Mutual CEO Peter Moyo denies wrongdoing

Old Mutual CEO Peter Moyo says his suspension from the company relates to a disagreement over how the company should engage with investment firm NMT Capital, which he founded. Moyo, who previously served as CEO of NMT Capital and remains a nonexecutive director, said the relationship between the companies had…

29 May 2019 2AM 5 min

African Bank says deposits surged in six months to March

African Bank says its had 'another successful six month period'. That's as retail customer deposits more than doubled during the period to R1.5bn. Net customer advances balance lifted to R19.2bn from R19bn. The bank’s credit impairment charge for the period fell to R970m from R1.7bn a year before. However, profit…

28 May 2019 2AM 7 min

Shareholders support Sibanye-Stillwater's takover of Lonmin

Shareholders have given the thumbs up to Sibanye-Stillwaters takeover of Lonmin. 89% of Sibanye's investors gave the deal the nod of approval. While there was a 98.9% vote in favour of the transaction at Lonmin's shareholder meeting. This is despite calls from some analysts for Lonmin's largest shareholder, the Public…

28 May 2019 2AM 6 min