Battle of the PGM belt – Financial Mail
Platinum mining companies are having to take painful decisions to make operations resilient in the face of low prices, regulatory uncertainty, labour and community protests and an unclear demand outlook. Abdul Davids comments. view article
Hulamin sets example for ailing steel industry – Business Day
As SA’s steel industry appears to be going into terminal decline, the aluminium market has been looking up. The pride of South African aluminium production, Hulamin, has just reported strong interim results to June 2017, despite a stronger rand. Abdul Davids comments. view article
Future looks bright for Mondi – Business Day
Higher prices for Mondi’s products underpin a positive outlook for the international packaging, paper and pulp manufacturer after it reported a robust performance in the first half of 2017. Revenue rose 8% to €3.6 billion in the six months from the same period in 2016. But underlying operating profit of €497 million came off €32 […]
Still no light for Dawn – Financial Mail
In its annual results to March 2016, Dawn posted a net loss of R758 million. It has now posted an attributable loss of R637 million in the year to March 2017. Meyrick Barker comments. view article
Trading conditions squeeze Woolworths – Business Day
Investors are lowering their expectations for Woolworths as the outlook for the local retail sector deteriorates. The company reported that growth in the second half of its financial year had been affected by “increasingly difficult trading conditions in both SA and Australasia”. Simon Anderssen comments. view article
Datatec bounces on sale of Westcon – Business Day
Datatec announced the sale of its Westcon Americas business in a shares-and-cash deal worth about R10.2 billion — or 85% of its market cap. US Fortune 500 IT company, Synnex, will pay a maximum of US$800 million, of which US$500 million will be settled in Synnex shares, giving Datatec a 10.25% share. Aslam Dalvi comments. […]
Clothing retailers suffering in tough economy – Business Day
Mr Price Group reported a drop in headline earnings for the first time in 16 years. In the year to April 1 2017, Mr Price reported a fall of 10.4% in diluted headline earnings per share to 887.9c. Retail sales eased 0.5%, while comparable store sales fell 3.6% to R18.6 billion. Simon Anderssen comments. view article
Africa makes winning case for Steinhoff – Business Day
Steinhoff’s African and East European assets outperformed the group’s operations elsewhere. In the six months to March 2017, the African business increased its total revenue 25% to €522 million. On a like-for-like basis, African revenue increased 4%, a good showing when compared with other domestically listed retailers. Dirk van Vlaanderen comments. view article
Clover drops after earnings warning – Business Day
Investors skimmed 7% off Clover’s share price in intraday trade on 29 May after the dairy products group said that it expected to report a drop of as much as 65% in full-year headline earnings. Clover said that the drought and currency fluctuations had resulted in above-inflation input costs, which it had been unable to […]
Regulatory hurdles put Mediclinic on watch- Moneyweb
Middle East regulatory issues led to a disappointing performance in private healthcare group Mediclinic’s annual results. The Middle East saw revenue grow 72% to $846.4 million for the year ended March 31. Aslam Dalvi comments. view article