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
Imperial looking to expand an empire – Financial Mail
Logistics and vehicle group Imperial Holdings is driving hard towards doubling profit from its rest-of-Africa operations. It is seeking to rely less on a shaky SA trading environment, where 59% of group revenue and 64% of operating profit were generated in the interim period to December 2016. Meyrick Barker comments. view article
Astral Foods sees pain from new brine regulations – Moneyweb
South Africa’s largest poultry producer, Astral Foods, saw poultry sales volumes decline by 10.5% for the six months to March 31. Its group operating profit declined by 50.6% to R212 million on the back of a flat 0.5% revenue growth to R5.7 billion. Dirk van Vlaanderen comments. view article
Umongo fills gap in Omnia's range – Business Day
Omnia is buying 90% of Umongo Petroleum for R780m, adding new product lines and geographies to expand the diversified chemicals group. The deal, which still has to be given the green light by SA’s competition authorities, will add 6% to Omnia’s overall annual turnover of about R16 billion. Aslam Dalvi comments. view article
Market punishes Pioneer Foods – Business Day
In the six months to end March 2017, Pioneer Foods reported a 47% drop in first-half adjusted headline earnings to R470m. Adjusted operating profit declined from 12% to 7%. Dirk van Vlaanderen comments. view article
