BizNews Radio (OLD)
Welcome to BizNews Radio where we interview top thought leaders and business people from South Africa and across the globe.
Saffers report from coronavirus's epicentre: "Everything has changed" in China
A fascinating interview. This fresh take on China's debilitating coronavirus came to us from two South African schoolteachers who are working deep inside the Middle Kingdom. Durbanites Gary and Andy Cronje share on-the-ground experiences of endless scanning, empty streets, closed shops and threat of arrest if you venture outdoors without…
David Shapiro: Tongaat v Brait; Tiger Brands; Don't sell Apple, Amazon, Netflix
South Africa's favourite market commentator was in a feisty mood during this week's episode of Rational Radio where he laid into Brait, Tiger Brands and executive pay in general. Never one to shirk from controversial subjects, David Shapiro celebrated 48 years on the market (and 15 years with Sasfin) by…
Coronavirus ripples, Rand punished; Eskom plans; Gangs raid gold mines; Tshwane mayor quits
In today's business headlines: - The rapid spread of the coronavirus pandemic will loom large in the minds of economists in the coming days as the number of global cases soar and the impact on commerce spreads. More than two-thirds of China’s economy will remain closed as the virus and…
Is Apple headed for disaster? Or is the sky the limit?
Apple – along with other tech companies like Amazon – has been a key driver of the sustained outperformance of our Biznews global portfolio. Last week, Apple reported its best-ever quarter on the back of rebounding iPhone sales. Some analysts worry that the rebound is a dead cat bounce and…
CEO Andre de Ruyter on Eskom split - boards could be finalised next week
Eskom's new Group Chief Executive Officer, André de Ruyter has outlined his plans to stabilise the power utility but warned that loadshedding could increase as urgent maintenance of the system is undertaken. He announced that boards for its generation, transmission and distribution divisions could be finalised by next week. It…
P&L: Microsoft one of the best tech turn arounds in last 20 years; plus Tesla, Facebook
Microsoft became the third US company to pass a market cap of $1trn last year. and in this episode of P&L, Paul Sweeney and Lisa Abramowicz discuss the software giant with Dan Ives equity analyst at Wedbush Securities. They also tap into Tesla and Facebook.
What's News - US growth steady, economists optimistic about 2020; Mexican ride share battle
The US economy grew at a 2.1 percent rate in the fourth quarter, and grew 2.3 percent for 2019. That's a steady pace, and the Wall Street Journal's Harriet Torry says economists are optimistic about this year. Plus, there's a big ride share battle going on in Mexico, and it's…
IMF laments 'lacklustre growth'; SAA cuts flights; Eskom’s big reveal (in the dark); Rand, MTN
In today's business headlines: - The International Monetary Fund has urged the South African government to speed up reforms to revive the economy and says the country's "lacklustre growth" is due to weakness in public enterprises; - The Rand was on the backfoot yesterday dropping to the lowest level this…
Apple earnings uncut: iPhone envy and a $207bn cash pile
The Apple share price has almost doubled over the past 12 months, breaching the trillion dollar market cap level in the process. And thankfully for those who follow the Biznews Global portfolio it’s one of the key ingredients. Bloomberg’s P&L show hosted by Lisa Abramowicz and Paul Sweeney sat down…
Cosatu targets private pensions; SA-US PTA reviewed; Tiger Brands CEO retires; Diamonds, Quilter
In today's business headlines: - Cosatu wants the government to consider making it mandatory for private pension funds to invest part of the money they control in infrastructure; - The South African government will tell the Trump Administration that its review of a preferential trade agreement that could put as…
Fresh R3.5bn SAA bailout; Moody's gives SA breathing space; Motsepe, Trump
In today's business news headlines: * South African Airways’s business-rescue team said it’s been given access to R3.5bn from the state-owned Development Bank of Southern Africa to avert the airline’s collapse and has immediately taken R2bn; * Credit ratings agency Moody's will give South Africa more time before reassessing its…
It stinks! BAT, big tobacco bosses run from corruption questions - Van Loggerenberg
The all-powerful tobacco industry has been implicated in underhand tactics that led to the destruction of a revenue service that was working in the interests of the common good. The mess left behind at the South African Revenue Service (Sars) has meant that it has been more difficult to collect…
Bargain-hunters snap up SA stocks as coronavirus hits JSE; gold; UK visa perk
In today's business news headlines: * On a grim day for global equities, South African stocks have been hit harder than most of their emerging-market peers, says Bloomberg; * Offshore investors were net buyers of South African equities; * Gold strengthens on global volatility; * Zimbabwe makes businesses pay tax in forex,…
Kevin Shames: How Bright Light Solar can deliver effective 21%pa to top earners
In this interview on Rational Radio, founder and CEO of Bright Light Solar, Kevin Shames, unpacks how the company's Prospectus is able to project a 21% effective return for high end taxpayers. It's a three pronged support: the immediate write-off against taxable income; the twice yearly dividends; and a guaranteed…
David Shapiro tackles the prescribed assets debate - and NHI
When David Shapiro was a lot younger, South Africa's asset management sector were forced to invest 53% of the funds entrusted with them into "prescribed assets" - interest bearing bonds issued by the Government and its enterprises like Eskom. That law, together with strict exchange control regulations, played a huge…
Biggest critic applauds Tongaat's hard-assed stance on former execs, Deloitte
The leading critic of 127 year old sugar group Tongaat Hulett, has been transformed into a fan after the company has onboarded suggestions he's been making for the best part of a decade. Opportune SA's Chris Logan is also impressed at the way new Tongaat chairman Louis von Zeuner and…
ESG goes mainstream - now a key ingredient in mergers and acquisitions
In this Rational Radio interview, top lawyer Rudolph du Plessis explains how the previously marginal measure of a company's Environmental, Societal and Governance impact has gone mainstream. The partner in leading global law firm Herbert Smith Freehills says that buyers (and sellers) are taking ESG into account not just in…
Davos through the lens of an insider - 'shops left like empty eyes' #WEF20
The name Davos is almost interchangeable with the World Economic Forum, even though WEF holds several other international meetings every year. For five hectic days, the world's elite come to a tiny town in the Alps where it becomes the place to be heard and the place to be seen…
Turning climate change, with innovation, into an opportunity - #WEF20
The overall message from most of the participants and speakers at the World Economic Forum was that we need to change how we conduct business to save a planet that is experiencing more extreme weather and an increase in temperatures. At WEf George Soros pronounced that the ‘fate of the…
Tapping in to SA tastes: Alcohol free beer and happy milking cows #WEF20
There are many overseas companies operating in South Africa somewhat under the radar and if economic conditions improve it would enable them to expand investment in the country. At World Economic Forum in Davos Biznews met a CEO of a German company that is supplying automatic milk machines to South…