Business
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. Manufacturing activity contracted at a slower pace in November, with survey respondents flagging congestion at the ports and power cuts among constraints. The seasonally-adjusted Absa Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) rose to 48.2 points in November from 45.4 in October, staying below the 50-point mark that separates expansion…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. The iconic Eyethu Theatre in Mofolo Central, Soweto has been revitalised and transformed into a contemporary community hub while preserving a local legacy. The Theatre was originally built by Ephraim Tshabalala in 1969. It was one of the first black-owned movie theatres in the country. Born in…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. Standard Bank has denied manipulating the value of the rand and having any involvement in anticompetitive or criminal conduct, despite admitting fault before the Competition Tribunal and a follow-up statement issued by the National Treasury. Treasury spelled out government's concern regarding the admission of misconduct relating to…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. Telecommunications group Cell C has provided insight into its financial performance and promised significant improvements in the coming years following a strategic overhaul. Cell C published a trading update for its operational performance for the period from January to September 2023 (YTD September 2023) and July to…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. Photo Credit: Freddy Mavunda. Nedbank banking group has announced Jason Quinn as chief executive-designate to replace retiring CEO Mike Brown next year. Quinn resigned from his position at Absa with immediate effect on Wednesday afternoon. Nedbank said his appointment is subject to regulatory approval. This includes getting…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. Investec launched its Clarity investing platform to the public, promising easy and affordable access to financial markets. It will compete head-on with EasyEquities. "Retail investors and traders looking for a simple and cost-effective platform to grow their portfolios in their own way can now do so with…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. South African Breweries (SAB), one of the country's most prominent beer manufacturers, has effectively utilized its R5.8 billion investment to bolster the capacity of two of its plants. The Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (dtic) affirmed this development on Thursday, marking a significant stride in the…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. The South African Reserve Bank's (SARB's) Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has voted to hold interest rates for the third consecutive meeting. This keeps the repo rate at 8.25%, with the prime lending rate at 11.75%. "The decision was unanimous," "At the current repurchase rate level, policy is…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. Photo Credit: Linkedin. Visa Inc., a world leader in digital payments, revealed its Holiday Edition Threats Report, which anticipates heightened scam activity during the holiday season across both card-present (CP) and card-not-present (CNP) transactions. The new report identifies popular fraud tactics expected between November 2023 and January…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. South Africa's headline consumer inflation rose to 5.9% year-on-year in October from 5.4% in September, Statistics South Africa data showed on Wednesday. According to Stats SA, consumer inflation increased for a third consecutive month in October, with prices increasing on average by 0.9% between September and October…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. Telkom wants the next spectrum auction to be pushed back to 2025. The company disclosed the request this morning, when it announced its interim financial results for the six months ended 30 September. The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) had earmarked 2024 to conclude the…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. Windhoek Beer has announced its exciting brand refresh, celebrating the essence of being 100% real. In a world where conformity often prevails, the brand is taking a stand, encouraging everyone to embrace their authentic selves and remain true to their unique identities. Windhoek Beer's dedication to authenticity…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. S&P Global Rating Agency affirmed the South Africa's credit ratings and maintained a stable outlook, despite the daunting fiscal challenges confronting South Africa. The decision comes amid an economic landscape marked by escalating levels of debt and fiscal deficits. The government's debt, driven by consistent budget deficits…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. Woolworths South Africa (Woolies) has decided to remove a sole Israeli product from its shelves, after threats to boycott the retailer intensified. In a statement released on Friday, Woolworths set the record straight. The company says it decided to suspend the sale of the only product it…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. Sasol Ltd (SSL), an integrated chemical and energy company, announced the appointment of Simon Baloyi as its president and chief executive officer, effective April 1, 2024. He succeeds Fleetwood Grobler, who will continue with the company as an executive advisor until December 31, 2024 to ensure a…
By Vuyani Ndaba. The South African Reserve Bank (Sarb) will keep its repo rate unchanged on November 23 and wait until May 2024 before cutting it, a Reuters poll found, as policymakers try to navigate risks to inflation and the timing of when global interest rates will start to fall.…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. MultiChoice group lost nearly half a million DStv subscribers in South Africa in the past year, according to the company's latest interim results (1H FY2023). In its interim results, published on Wednesday, the pay-television group said the decline in subscriber numbers would have been less severe if…
Business Reporter. Competition watchdog said on Wednesday it has reached a settlement agreement with British bank Standard Chartered over accusations it colluded with other lenders to manipulate the rand. The Competition Commission said Standard Chartered (SCB) admitted liability in the case and agreed to pay a fine of almost 43…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. AngloGold Ashanti will pay the South African Revenue Service (Sars) a total of R4.5 billion in taxes as part of the transaction to move its corporate domicile to the UK and primary listing to the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). The transaction will take place before Tuesday…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. Multimedia group Multichoice has warned shareholders to expect a headline loss when it reports its finances for the six months ending 30 September. The company is set to release its interim trading statement next week. It blamed weakening currencies, particularly the Nigerian naira, and increased investment in…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. Deputy minister of communications Philly Mapulane has told parliament that the SABC is not only technically insolvent but owes broadcasting signal distributor Sentech more than R700-million. Mapulane told parliament that the money the SABC owes to Sentech is "significant" and, if the situation is allowed to continue…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. Fitch Ratings Agency has affirmed the state-owned Rand Water's National Long-Term Rating at 'AA+(zaf)' with a Stable Outlook. "The rating affirmation reflects continued strong links between Rand Water and the South African state (BB-/Stable), as per our Government-Related Entities (GRE) Rating Criteria," said Fitch in a statement.…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. Photo Credit: CFOSA. Pharmacy group Dis-Chem reported a 17.2% decline in half-year earnings on Friday, 3 November, hit by the constrained economic environment, higher interest rates and ongoing power cuts. Dischem said it is satisfied with its performance during the period, "notwithstanding a tough trading environment". "The…
By Adelaide Changole and Colleen Goko. South Africa's new budget confirms the already-cautious assessment by Moody's Investors Service that underpins its stable outlook for the country's credit rating while highlighting key risks. "What we've seen is in line with our expectation of the macroeconomic performance for this year, "said Aurelien…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. South Africa's medium term economic growth remains weak as a result of the cumulative cost of "power outages", the poor performance of the logistics sector, high inflation, rising borrowing costs and a weaker global environment. This according to Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana who delivered the Medium Term…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. The seasonally-adjusted Absa Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) fell to 45.4 points in October from an upwardly revised 46.2 in September, further below the 50-point mark that separates expansion from contraction. Absa, which sponsors the PMI survey, said in a statement that it was "perplexing" the index had…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. State owned power utility Eskom said on Tuesday that its net loss in the financial year that ended in March 2023 had widened to R23.9-billion. That's from a revised R11.9-billion in the previous year. Eskom interim CEO Calib Cassim said the 2023 financial results reflect the company's…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DRME) has published the official petrol and diesel price changes for November 2023. The price of both grades of unleaded petrol (93 and 95) will be lowered by R1.78 a litre on Wednesday, while diesel wholesale prices will be cut by…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. The minister of Finance Enoch Godongwana will need to make tough choices about how the 2023/2024 fiscal revenue gap (which we estimate at up to R30bn) and a more conservative income outlook for the rest of the medium term will be addressed. Godongwana has been hard at…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. Deputy governor of the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) and former head of the Prudential Authority Kuben Naidoo has resigned. Naidoo was re-appointed by President Cyril Ramaphosa as the governor for his second term at the Bank in March 2020. His second five-year contract was due to…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. South Africa's top food producer Tiger Brands announced today that its current CEO CEO Noel Doyle is stepping down, will be replaced by Tjaart Kruger. Tiger Brand's shares jumped almost 12% early on Friday after it said Doyle would step down. In a statement the group, said…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. Vodacom Group has agreed to a secondary listing on the A2X stock exchange. The listing will take place next Thursday, 26 October, with ordinary shares tradeable from that date. The group will retain its primary listing on the JSE and its issued share capital will be unaffected…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. @EOH. JSE-listed information and communications technology services company EOH has announced that CEO Stephen Van Coller will step down as chief executive and retire from the company's board on 31 March 2024. In a statement, EOH said: "Over the last five years, Stephen has successfully led the…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. Headline consumer inflation rose to a three-month high in September, strengthening the case for the central bank to hold borrowing costs higher for longer. Annual inflation accelerated to 5.4% from 4.8% in August, Statistics South Africa said Wednesday. This is an increase of 0.6% between August and…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. Amazon has announced that it will launch amazon.co.za, the company's online marketplace, in 2024, making it only the second African country after Egypt where the U.S. e-commerce giant has set up a locally-dedicated website. "We look forward to launching amazon.co.za in South Africa, providing local sellers, brand…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. The Competition Commission on Tuesday officially launched its Media and Digital Platforms Market Inquiry (MDPMI) after publishing the final terms of reference (ToRs) a month ago. The MDPMI will investigate the distribution of media content on South Africa's digital platforms, including search, social media and news aggregation…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. File:South32’s president and chief operating officer, Mike Fraser, at the BHP Billiton spin-off’s listing on the JSE in 2015. Picture: Martin Rhodes. JSE-listed gold producer Gold Fields has appointed Michael Fraser as its newest CEO and executive director from January 2024. Fraser will take over from Martin…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. Minister of Finance Enoch Godongwana says his position still stands that they will not extend the basket of food items to be zero-rated in a bid to mitigate the cost of living for the poor. The call to expand the country's zero-VAT-rated basket of food items comes…
By Adelaide Changole. South Africa might not secure a quick exit from the global financial watchdog's dirty money list by 2025 because its reforms are moving too slowly. "At the pace that we are moving at, it's unlikely that we are going to be able to get off that grey…
By Karl Gernetzky. The liquidators of Steinhoff International have set a liquidation date of 13 October, after which it will delist and its shares shall cease to exist. Steinhoff's shareholders had voted to dissolve the company and delist it from the Johannesburg and Frankfurt stock exchanges in July, with around…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. JSE-listed FirstRand Group has appointed Chief Operating Officer (COO) Mary Vilakazi as its new CEO, effective from April next year. Vilakazi, also becomes the group's second black leader after Sizwe Nxasana. The financial services giant which is the holding company of one of the country's big four…
By Carol Paton. Four state-owned enterprises – Eskom, SA Airways, Denel, and Alexkor – as well as the UIF, the Compensation Fund, and the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) have missed the deadline to file their annual financial statements in Parliament. Under the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA), state…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. The Foschini Group (TFG) announced today that the company's ordinary shares will be listed on A2X Markets with effect from 10 October 2023. A2X is a licensed stock exchange that provides a secondary platform for companies to list their shares for trade. Other well-known retailers with secondary…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. The Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DRME) has published the official petrol and diesel price changes for October. Petrol prices will be going up by R1.08 and R1.14 per litre, and diesel will be hiked by between R1.94 and R1.97 a litre A litre of 95…
Business Reporter. Kaizer Chiefs Football Club has surprisingly revealed a new range of chips, with a decent selection of flavours available. "Our vision was clear - to deliver a snack range that embodies the boldness and vibrancy of the Kaizer Chiefs brand, "says Kaizer Chiefs Marketing and Commercial Director, Jessica…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. South African manufacturing activity shrank for the eighth month in a row in September, at a faster pace than in the previous month as demand was depressed and production constrained. The seasonally-adjusted Absa Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) fell to 45.4 points in September from 49.7 points in…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. The Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) says it will be appealing a court ruling that gave it 30 days to approve the sale of Mango Airlines. The decision to apply for leave to appeal against the September judgment was based on legal advice, the department said in…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. Pick n Pay CEO Pieter Boone has resigned from his position with immediate effect after years at the helm of the JSE-listed grocery retail giant, the group announced on Monday. Boone, who was appointed to the position in April 2021, will be replaced by former Pick n…
By Garth Theunissen. Former Absa non-executive director Sipho Pityana, who was removed from the bank’s board in November 2021, has lost a court case in which he sought to compel the banking group to hand over documents related to that decision. At the heart of Pityana's legal wrangles with Absa…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) has presented its 2022/23 Annual Report in Parliament on Friday with a net loss of over R1 billion – with revenue down nearly 8%. The report notes that the SABC faced challenges from funding models and internal and external factors affecting financial…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. Capitec Bank, the biggest digital bank in South Africa, added one million new clients in six months to August 31, considering the weak economic environment. CEO, Gerrie Fourie, said in an interview yesterday that in fact, the bank had managed to grow at about two million new…
By Sandra Laurence. A botched implementation of SAP enterprise software cost Spar Group R786-million in lost wholesale turnover in the six months to end-March 2023. Spar is facing a double-digit decline in profit and has deemed it "prudent" not to declare an interim dividend as a result. The company said…
By S'thembile Cele and Ntando Thukwana. South Africa is strapped for cash and the country's central bank has a stern warning for the ruling African National Congress: You can't spend your way out of trouble. "Deteriorating fiscal risks lead to higher interest rates, "Reserve Bank Governor Lesetja Kganyago said on…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. The Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) has revoked the operating licence of Salt Asset Management (SAM), following the company's Financial Intelligence Centre Act breaches. The asset management company was recently implicated in an Al Jazeera investigation into alleged money laundering for a global gold smuggling ring. The…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. Minister in the presidency responsible for electricity, Kgosientsho Ramokgopa says the Energy Action Plan (EAP) unveiled emphasises the need to address generation capacity gaps, but it is void of solutions to capacitate the grid needed to connect new power projects. The Energy Action Plan has its own…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. The SA Reserve Bank has kept the repo rate unchanged for a second meeting running, but retained a cautious tone in its statement as renewed risks to inflation from recent rand weakness and increased global fuel and food prices remained a concern. The decision to keep interest…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. The headline consumer inflation edged up to 4.8% year-on-year in August from 4.7% in July data from Statistics South Africa showed on Wednesday. The statistics agency said core inflation also rose to 4.8% year-on-year in August from 4.7% in July. Patrick Kelly, Chief Director for Price Statistics,…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. Bob van Dijk is stepping down as CEO of both Naspers and its European-listed spinoff Prosus with immediate effect. The companies made the announcement shortly after markets opened in Johannesburg on Monday. "The Naspers and Prosus boards and Bob van Dijk have mutually agreed that Bob will,…
By S'thembile Cele. National Treasury proposed introducing a new fiscal anchor as part of measures to contain rising debt and regain the country's fiscal credibility. The recommendation forms part of a plan presented to President Cyril Ramaphosa last week. Its submission came after the Treasury warned that spending cuts may…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. While overall inflation has come down in recent months to its lowest level since October 2021, food inflation remains at nearly twice the inflation rate for all goods and services. The Competition Commission on Wednesday, released its latest edition of the Essential Food Pricing Monitoring (EFPM) report.…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. Public enterprises minister Pravin Gordhan says he would not be intimidated to submit to pressure that certain elements, with zero regard for public interest, sought to exert on him and the department regarding the business rescue process of Mango Airlines. This comes after the North Gauteng High…
By Timothy Rangongo. South African bonds extended declines on Tuesday after a top official said tax revenue is falling well short of targets, fueling concerns that the government will have to flood an already near-saturated market with increased bond issuance. The warning from South African Revenue Service Deputy Commissioner Johnstone…
By Monique Vanek and S'thembile Cele. South African inflation expectations declined for the first time in two years, suggesting price-pressures have peaked and the central bank will be able to keep interest rates on hold. Average inflation expectations for this year fell to 6.1% in the third quarter from 6.5%…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. MultiChoice Group director Imtiaz Patel will step down as chairman of the board in March, and will be replaced by fellow director Elias Masilela in the role. Patel served as CEO of MultiChoice between 2010 and 2015, and is also a previous CEO of SuperSport, a role…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. Two prominent South African business leaders have called on corporate South Africa to adopt conscious leadership principles to help boost the country's flagging economy. BSG founder Greg Reis invited seasoned technology executive Mteto Nyati to invest in the business as Executive Chairman last year, and together the…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. Johanneburg, September 11, 2023: City Lodge Hotels' (CLH) reviewed provisional condensed consolidated results for the year to 30 June 2023 show an impressive recovery in occupancies, average room rates, and revenue post the Covid-19 pandemic and the severe effects of the lockdown on the hospitality and tourism…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. Moody's Investors Service has warned that Eskom's long-term corporate family rating (CFR) remained constrained due to rising costs of diesel-fired gas turbines to keep higher stages of load shedding at bay. It upgraded the long-term corporate family rating of Eskom to B2 from Caa1, its senior unsecured…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. South African Revenue Service (SARS) Commissioner Edward Kieswetter called on National Treasury to exercise caution when implementing budget cuts in the coming budget, as this would pose a threat to the country's "fiscal integrity". Kieswetter said that budget cuts at SARS would work against the positive strides…
By Carol Paton. The medium-term budget policy statement will be tabled on 1 November, a week later than requested by Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana, the National Assembly Programme Committee decided on Thursday. Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula said that while she had received a letter from Godongwana requesting 25 October, this date…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. Public enterprises minister Pravin Gordhan has been ordered by the Pretoria high court to take a decision on an application by Mango's business rescue practitioner for the sale of the airline within 30 days. If he fails to do so, the business rescue practitioner can legitimately assume…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. Statistics SA has announced that South African real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) expanded by 0.6% in the second quarter of 2023. The median GDP growth forecast among economists who were surveyed by Reuters was just 0.1%. Six industries on the supply side of the economy grew in…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. The Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DRME) has published the official petrol and diesel price changes for September. Both 93 and 95 octane petrol will increase by R1.71 per litre, with the price of diesel (0.05% sulphur) increases by R2.84 per litre, while diesel with 0.005%…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. The tax revenues are falling significantly short of the estimates projected at the time of the 2023 budget, with economists at the Bureau for Economic Research (BER) expecting a huge gap by the end of the year. Budget data published by the National Treasury this past week…
By S'thembile Cele. President Cyril Ramaphosa said lower spending is "not necessarily" the answer to the country's fiscal challenges, even as his government grapples with declining revenue. The National Treasury is facing a massive shortfall and has already told the government to brace for a tough time when the finance…
By Garth Theunissen. The Constitutional Court has refused former Old Mutual CEO Peter Moyo's application for leave to appeal a ruling against his R250 million damages claim against his former employer. Moyo has filed various lawsuits against Old Mutual after he was fired in mid-2019. In November last year, the…
By S'thembile Cele. South Africa could drastically boost economic growth if it fixes its ailing energy and logistics sectors and reduces crime, a top International Monetary Fund official said. With its abundant natural endowments and strong institutions, South Africa “is poised for a growth take-off if reforms that resolutely and…
By Paul Vecchiatto. Suggestions that the BRICS group of emerging market powers establish their own currency to reduce their reliance on the dollar aren't under serious consideration and never have been, finance minister said. "No one has tabled the issue of a BRICS currency, not even in informal meetings," Enoch…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. The consumer price inflation rate has dropped to 4.7% for the month of July, making it the lowest it has been in two years. According to Stats SA, annual consumer price inflation (CPI) dropped from 5.4% in June to 4.7% in July. This is the lowest reading…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. Annually, insurers such as Liberty pay out billions in claims, providing vital assistance to clients in their times of need. However, a small portion of claims do not get paid, primarily due to inaccurate or absent information submitted during the underwriting process. "More often than not, the…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. Johannesburg-based financial services firm Investec has appointed Cumesh Moodliar as the new company's CEO, starting on April 1. Outgoing Investec Bank CEO Wainwright will remain as executive of Invested Ltd until his planned retirement in 2025. Moodliar joined Investment Private Banking in 2012, was head of Investec…
By Paul Burkhardt. South Africa's surge in trucking that's emerged largely due to higher coal prices and train bottlenecks may lead to catastrophic job losses in the road transport sector when factors ease, according to the head of the state-owned port and rail company. The logistic problems faced by Transnet…
By Adelaide Changole. South Africa could dramatically boost economic growth if the country fixed its fraying transport network and public electricity utility, the International Monetary Fund said. "If all the structural things are tackled, we believe growth can go up to 2.5% to 3%," Max Alier, the IMF's resident representative…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. Mobile operator MTN South Africa's power resilience investment helped the group deliver a solid performance for the first half of 2023, with group service revenue up by 15.1%, to R107.7 billion. Revenue from data (26.9%), voice (6.6%) and fintech (11.5%) services is behind mobile operator's positive numbers…
By Paul Burkhardt. Sasol shares dropped the most in five months after the fuels and chemicals producer said the poor performance of South Africa's state-owned companies has affected its business and is expected to result in lower earnings. The government-run firms "have constrained our supply chains and resultant sales volumes,"…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. The Special Investigating Unit (SIU) has filed for leave to appeal a high court judgment in favour of Telkom that set aside a proclamation that required the unit to probe various dealing at the Telecommunications group. Last month, the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria ruled that…
Partner Content presented by TCL. TCL, the world's No. 2 TV brand and No. 1 98-inch TV and Google TV brand globally, has unveiled its latest television sets which will be introduced into the South African market later this year. This unveiling marks a significant milestone in TCL's commitment to…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. The Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) will be hosting the fifth edition of the annual #JSESheInvests event, an initiative that aims to promote financial literacy among women to empower and support them on their investment journey. This year's event will focus on equipping women with the tools and…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. The Competition Commission has recommended that mobile operator Vodacom's acquisition of a stake in fibre operator Maziv be blocked. Maziv's main assets include Vumatel, South Africa's largest fibre-to-the-home operator. The commission, which has taken a considerable amount of time to investigate the transaction, has recommended that the…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. Mobile operator Vodacom has dismissed the early speculation that the fire that broke out at their head offices on 9 July 2023, pointed to the solar panels on the roof being the primary cause of the blaze. The building is located at Century City, a development situated…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. The Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA), a Development Finance Institution (DFI) announced its highest record profits to date, of approximately R5.2bn for the 2022-2023 financial year. The DBSA revealed that, of the R5.2-billion net profit, sustainable earnings amounted to R4.2-billion, while net foreign exchange gains amounted…
By Bhargav Acharya. South African manufacturing activity contracted for the sixth consecutive month in July, driven by an increase in scheduled power cuts and transport disruptions, a survey showed on Tuesday. The seasonally-adjusted Absa Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) fell to 47.3 points in July from 47.6 points in June, falling…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. The South African Revenue Service (SARS) says South Africa has recorded a preliminary trade balance deficit of R3.5 billion in June 2023. SARS said that the deficit was due to exports of R167.6 billion and imports of R171.1 billion – including trade with Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho and…
By Karl Gernetzky. MTN, SA's second biggest mobile operator, said on Monday earnings could rise as much as a tenth in its half-year to end June, but it is feeling the pressure of hyperinflation in key markets, as well as currency devaluations. Headline earnings per share are expected to be…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) has published the official fuel price adjustments for August 2023. The unleaded petrol (both 93 and 95) will be hiked by 37c a litre, while diesel will increase by 72c a litre. The latest hikes will bring the price of…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. Spar group has appointed Angelo Swartz, who has been with the JSE-listed retailer for 16 years, to take on the top job from 1 October 2023. Swartz is currently the Divisional Managing Director of the SPAR KwaZulu-Natal division. He will also take over the role of Chairman…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. Photo Credit:Marsel Roothman. Resturant Group Spur, which owns brands such as RocoMamas, Hussar Grill and John Dory's, has bought a 60% stake in restaurant group Doppio Zero. Making the announcement on Thursday, Spur said that the Doppio Zero brand, which is owned by the Doppio Group along…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. Takatso consortium has welcomed the Competition Tribunal's approval of its proposed merger with South African Airways (SAA) as a historic moment. The tribunal on Tuesday announced that it had approved the transaction subject to conditions involving a moratorium on retrenchments and divestiture of the shareholding by the…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. Steinhoff International Holdings shareholders voted to dissolve the scandal-hit global retailer and delist it from the Johannesburg and Frankfurt stock exchanges. Those who have held stock via listings in Johannesburg or Frankfurt stand to gain little after the creditors who control the company get paid. But outside…
By Loni Prinsloo and S'thembile Cele. Telkom and the government are in advanced talks to partner in rolling out broadband products even as buyers flock to bid for the telecommunication company's assets. The partnership will involve Telkom's businesses, such as the Openserve fibre unit, the government’s Broadband Infraco, and broadcast…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Tuesday raised its 2023 global growth estimates slightly given resilient economic activity in the first quarter, but warned that persistent challenges were dampening the medium-term outlook. The IMF in its latest World Economic Outlook said inflation was coming down and acute…