Standard Bank's mortgage strategy pays off – Business Day
Although it saw a 16% rise in credit impairments for the six months to June, Standard Bank has not burnt its fingers on home loans, unlike rivals that reported results recently. Meyrick Barker comments. view article
Mpact: a mixed bag – Financial Mail
Mpact, the diversified JSE-listed packaging maker that was spun out of Mondi five years ago, posted mixed results in the six months to June. This came as a couple of dismal trading updates in past months spooked the market. Dirk van Vlaanderen comments. view article
Massmart slips back despite strong forecast – Bdlive
Massmart’s share price was hit by profit-taking after the retailer released an interim trading statement, in which it said earnings were expected to grow strongly despite a marked slowdown in the local economy. Dirk van Vlaanderen comments. view article
Old Mutual profit takes first dive in five year – Business Day
Old Mutual’s first half profits declined for the first time in five years, burned by significant once off items. Rand weakness relative to the first half of 2015 hurt profits but, even on a constant currency basis, pretax adjusted operating profits fell 9% to £708m for the six months to June. Justin Floor comments. view […]
Core units lift AECI as profit plunges – Business Day
Chemicals and explosives company AECI has reported a 42 percent decline in operating profit to R571 million for the six months to end June, which was dominated by a constrained environment in South Africa and abroad. Aslam Dalvi comments. view article
Strong operations in Africa lift Shoprite results – Business Day
Shoprite’s stronghold in West Africa helped the domestic retailer report better-than-expected results in July, but the company has yet to successfully branch out in East Africa. Simon Anderssen comments. view article
There's nothing sleepy about Aspen – Moneyweb
Aspen is a stock investors love or hate. Some argue that it is an overpriced generics manufacturer that has grown through acquisition and has now reached its peak. Others argue that management is a group of shrewd operators who have proven themselves over the years. Victor Seanie comments. view article
Packaging portfolio helps grow Mondi profit – Business Day
Mondi continued its strong financial performance across all of its key metrics in the six months to June, with underlying operating profit of €529m rising 8% on the same period in 2015. Dirk van Vlaanderen comments. view article
Kumba: The Anglo shakeup – Financialmail.co.za
If Anglo American doesn’t want to keep Kumba Iron Ore, why should any other investors want it? At Kumba’s interim results last week, outgoing CEO Norman Mbazima reiterated the reasons Anglo American CEO Mark Cutifani had previously given for selling Kumba, which related to the nature of the assets and the long-term fundamentals for iron […]
Governments fail to impede BAT growth – Bdlive
British American Tobacco (BAT) delivered a 4.2% rise in group revenue in the first half of its financial year, despite efforts by governments in the jurisdictions it operates in to stomp out smoking as a practice. Dirk van Vlaanderen comments. view article
