Barclays Africa expansion plans intact – BDlive
Barclays Africa on Tuesday said it would not be deterred from expansion on the rest of the continent despite its parents’ shareholding in the African operation falling to about 20% in two to three years. Jihad Jhaveri comments. view article
R94 billion bilateral deals crown state visits – Business Report
The signing of 26 agreements worth R94 billion by the Chinese and SA governments on Wednesday present an opportunity for the skewed trade relations and perceptions between the two countries to be addressed. The trade balance favours China as more than 90 percent of SA’s top 10 exports to China are in raw materials, while […]
Astral makes hay while the sun shines – Moneyweb
Investors who bought into Astral Foods on the back of a superb trading update in early November will have made an 11% loss as the share fell from R171.50 at the time, to R152 by the time the company reported its results on Monday. While Astral and peers like Sovereign Foods and RCL Foods have all […]
Daybrook in US a prime catch for Oceana – Business Day
Fishing group Oceana, which has consumer brands giant Tiger Brands and empowerment group Brimstone as anchor shareholders, netted an encouraging first-profit catch from its recent acquisition in the US. Oceana’s year to end-September results released yesterday showed fishmeal and fish oil specialist Daybrook Fisheries chipped in revenues of R574 million and operating profit of R180 […]
SA clothes sellers eye fast, local supply as rivals land – Sharenet
South African retailers are waking up to the need to work more closely with a resurgent domestic textile industry to help fend off global fashion giants muscling in on the continent’s most lucrative market. Cheap Chinese clothes imports almost broke the back of local garment makers, but the sector has started to recover after the […]
As the wheel turns – Financial Mail
A sign of the intensifying pressure on mining companies is that even some of the biggest and most diversified are having to abandon progressive dividend policies. Still, it’s debatable whether progressive dividend policies, which mean increasing dividends every year, were ever an appropriate pledge for companies operating in such a cyclical industry. Abdul Davids comments. […]
Discovery applies for bank licence – Business Day
Using its First National Bank-backed credit card as a springboard, Discovery will launch a ‘full-service’ retail bank as soon as it obtains regulatory approval in a bid to diversify its income streams. The insurer has already put in motion its plan to add a bank to its operations through the acquisition of a nearly 75% […]
Panama casino dims Sun’s results – Business Day
Sun International pulled out all the cost-cutting stops to offset tough trading conditions in its South African market but was tripped up by a poor start at its new casino in Panama and foreign exchange losses in Nigeria. Reporting results for the financial year to end-June, CEO Graeme Stephens said Sun would have reported a […]
MTN in patient wait for Iran funds – Business Day
MTN expects it will take until next year to free its $1.1bn profits trapped in Iran following nuclear agreements Iran reached with the US and other countries to lift sanctions. MTN chief financial officer Brett Goschen said there were still a number of processes that would have to be finalised. But the group felt more […]
Anglo puts a brave face on radical cost cutting – Financial Mail
ANGLO American might have scored public relations points by paying an interim dividend, but was this wise? After all, the figures for the half year to June hardly painted a picture of a robust mining giant with cash to spare: cash flows from operations have fallen, the outlook for commodities remains weak, assets are being […]