SABMiller keeps climbing despite weaker results – Moneyweb
SABMiller announced weaker than expected interim results, with revenue growing by just 2% and organic constant currency operating profit rising by 3% from the comparable period last year. Group adjusted earnings per share came in at 123.6 US cents per share, up from 120.4 US cents per share last year. Dirk van Vlaanderen comments on the […]
German property 'good bet for SA investors' – Business Day
South African fund managers, who have limited opportunity to invest in the residential property market on the JSE, are becoming increasingly bullish on listed housing funds in Germany, which is believed to be the European country with the largest percentage of its population renting instead of owning homes. Investors who want exposure to Germany’s housing […]
Discovery eyes UK's insurance markets – Business Day
The UK health and life insurance markets are perfect targets for Discovery’s “disruptive” approach based on behavioural economics, CEO Adrian Gore said yesterday. Discovery has bought the remaining 25% of its British business for R2.8bn to take full ownership of PruHealth and PruProtect, paving the way to entrench the Vitality brand in the northern hemisphere […]
Tongaat Hulett 'able to grow sugar output' – Business Day
Tongaat Hulett can grow its annual sugar production by 400 000 tonnes over the next four years without having to invest in new mills, largely on expected improvements in yields and extraction rates, CEO Peter Staude said yesterday. This would reduce unit cost production, given that most of the cost base was fixed, he said […]
Sappi expects rebound in price of lucrative wood pulp – Business Day
Sappi expects prices of dissolving wood pulp to remain depressed for about 18 months, as excess supply and low cotton prices put pressure on the price of the cotton substitute. Sappi has about a 20% share of the world market for dissolving wood pulp, which it ships mainly to clothing and textiles makers in the […]
Massmart faces mall food fight – Business Report
Massmart was feeling the pressure from constant litigation from its competitors which are seeking to block the company’s move in growing its retail food business. In the latest case in the Durban High Court, Judge Peter Olsen granted an interim interdict to prevent Massmart from converting its Game store into their food retailer Cambridge at […]
Tumbling gold leads rout of commodities – Business Report
Gold led the rout of commodities as investors unwound their positions, accumulated before the US Federal Reserve announcement to end quantitative easing. Gold, silver and platinum tumbled as the dollar’s rise to a five-year high cut demand, wiping almost $2 billion (1122.1bn) from the value of precious metals-backed funds. The commodity prices declined as the […]
Support for austerity is vital, says Lamberti – Business Day
A possible sovereign ratings downgrade could have “severe consequences” for SA, though this has been mitigated by Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene’s “excellent” first medium-term budget, Imperial Holdings CEO Mark Lamberti says. SA is the source of 66% of Imperial’s revenue. But Mr Lamberti told the diversified logistics and industrial services company’s annual general meeting (AGM) […]
Kagiso PMI rises for third consecutive month in October – Business Day
Recovery in the manufacturing sector is proving more robust than expected with the key leading indicator of manufacturing conditions breaking decisively through the neutral 50-point barrier last month and hitting its best level in a year. The Kagiso purchasing managers index (PMI) rose for a third consecutive month to 51.8 in October from 50.8 in […]
