Steady as she goes – Financial Mail
The jury is still out on whether Barclays Africa Group is back in the banking game. There are indications that SA’s third-largest bank by market value is on track for a turnaround. But not all the signs are positive. A year ago, CEO Maria Ramos committed to a three-year strategy to turn around the SA […]
Sun in R94bn offer for casino group Peermont – Business Report
Hotel chain Sun International planned to buy out casino resort group Peermont for R9.4 billion in line with the group’s strategy to enhance its existing portfolio and seek new growth opportunities, it said on Friday. “This acquisition will enhance Sun International’s position and scale as a leading hotel, resort and gaming operator, which in turn […]
Clover races to meet demand – Business Day
Clover Industries, which started making yoghurts and custards this year, will spend R65m on installing another yoghurt production line because the one it bought from DairyBelle has run out of capacity two years earlier than expected. Dirk van Vlaanderen comments on the company’s interim results. view article
PPC takes title of being SA's worst performing stock – Business Report
Cement-maker PPC is under new leadership, in talks about a possible merger and facing tougher competition at home and on the continent. That’s made it the country’s worst performing stock this year. The shares are down 37 percent so far this year, closing at R17.44 on the JSE yesterday and trading almost 47 percent lower […]
Big five banks growing in hard times – Business Day
SA’s big five banks grew earnings by low double digits last year, despite a tough economic environment which has put consumers and corporate customers under pressure. The economy grew 1.5%, while FirstRand, Standard Bank, Barclays Africa, Nedbank and Investec grew headline earnings by an average 11.6%, EY African financial services sector leader Emilio Pera said on […]
Discovery eyes bigger stake in card venture – Business Day
Discovery plans to buy a bigger stake in DiscoveryCard from its partner FirstRand, in order to access a greater share of the profits and to start offering more banking products. The financial services group will pay FirstRand R1.35bn of the R5bn it is planning to raise in a rights issue for the increased share of the […]
Implats may seek market finance – Business Report
Metal prices at five-year lows will prompt Impala Platinum Holdings to seek market financing should it proceed with a targeted $2.5 bn of spending on mines. That is the view of Kagiso Asset Management, which says that the South African producer’s five-year plan for building new shafts will force it to either raise cash or […]
MTN looks to data growth in Africa – Moneyweb
Data is a major growth area for the MTN Group, with low smartphone penetration, low data consumption per subscriber and the lack of fixed data services all contributing to a ‘very large data opportunity’ in Africa. This is according to Aslam Dalvi. “MTN remains well positioned to capitalise on this opportunity,” he adds. view article
Company comment: Bidvest – Business Day
Companies have been reeling out their results in past weeks, and if one trend is evident across the myriad sectors they represent it is that SA Inc is in some sort of trouble, despite their valiant efforts. Along with Eskom’s woes, they talk of a slow economy, strikes and a lack of government spending in productive […]
Declines in manufacturing demand, activity narrows in Feb – Engineering News
The seasonally adjusted Kagiso Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) fell by a steeper-than-expected 6.6 index points to 47.6 in February, driven chiefly by a 16.2-point decline in the business activity index (BAI) to 45.5. While January’s figure was “artificially high”, owing to seasonal factors, Kagiso Asset Management research head Abdul Davids advised on Monday that the […]
