Latest news and views in Brief
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – South Africa’s rand fell to a 3-week low against the dollar on Wednesday, extending losses triggered by contracting domestic economic growth data and a rally in the dollar. The rand fell over half a percent to 10.5220, breaching key 10.50 support as investors digested signals the South African economy was heading for a … Read more
By Tiisetso Motsoeneng JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – The new boss of South Africa’s Adcock Ingram announced an overhaul of the struggling drugmaker to allow its different businesses to operate more independently in a bid to make them more nimble and increase accountability. South Africa’s No.2 drugs company, which posted its first loss on Tuesday since going public six years ago, … Read more
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – South Africa’s rand fell 1 percent against the dollar on Tuesday to its softest level in nearly a week, after the release of data showing the economy shrunk in the first quarter of the year, raising the spectre of a recession. The data undermines the case for more interest rate hikes this year … Read more
Despite the evidence released today of the contraction of South Africa’s economy for the first time since 2009, the rest of the continent is truly booming which is undeniably highlighted for us by Andre de Ruyter. The new CEO of Nampak has a talk with Alec about Nampak’s incredibly inviting prospects going forward. The company … Read more
We complain about a lot in South Africa. One of our favourite bugbears is the tax that we pay. And although our tax rates are comparatively lower than some Scandinavian countries, the problem that we have in South Africa is that we perpetually feel as though we simply do not get bang for our buck. … Read more
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – South Africa’s biggest apparel retailer, Mr Price Group Ltd, broadly met forecasts with a 22 percent rise in full-year profit on Tuesday as cash-strapped shoppers flocked to its no-frills stores. Mr Price, which runs discount stores of the same name, said diluted headline earnings totalled 715.1 cents a share in the year ended March 29, … Read more
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – South African packaging firm Nampak reported a 10 percent rise in first-half profit on Tuesday, helped by rising demand in African countries beyond its home market. Like many South African companies, Nampak is looking to expand on the fast-growing African continent to offset slower growth at home, where crippling mining strikes and … Read more
PRETORIA (Reuters) – South Africa’s economy shrank 0.6 percent quarter-on-quarter in the first three months of this year as a massive decline in output from the strike-hit platinum mining sector triggered the first overall quarterly contraction since a 2009 recession. The economy had expanded 3.8 percent in the fourth quarter of 2013. On an unadjusted year-on-year … Read more
Verimark, has released its full year results for the period ended 28 February 2014. Verimark has seen declines based on a dulled consumer environment, paired with adverse exchange rate effects. Verimark holds a current mark cap of R86 million with a PE ratio of 6.05, its share price is down by just under 17% on the … Read more
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – New South African mining minister Ngoako Ramatlhodi has pledged to mediate in a crippling platinum strike now in its fifth month and said the government needed to start treating the striking AMCU union with respect, local radio said on Tuesday. Ramatlhodi, who was sworn in on Monday evening, also told Power FM that mining … Read more