Alec Hogg's Transcribed Interviews - Business & Financial Interviews

Straight talking Investec CEO Koseff’s plea that NDP parts don’t get dropped to appease Labour

10th September 2013

A black-eyed Stephen Koseff appeared on the front page of the Sunday Times Business Times this week together with ANC Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa. Both were pictured wearing boxing gloves. We asked Koseff to come through to the CNBC Power Lunch studio to explain the context of his comment in the newspaper that Ramaphosa is … Read more

Sasol’s Rand Hedge qualities unpacked – CEO says every 10c drop adds R939m to bottom line

9th September 2013

Journalists have long memories. We need them. Those around us are often rather selective about what they recall. My memories of Sasol stretch back to lunching with the formidable former chairman Joe Stegmann; talking engineering with the bow-tied and wonderfully named CEO Paul Kruger; and listening to his successor Pieter Cox’s dreams of boosting the … Read more

First Strut claims another casualty – IDC chief says it lost R123m to the corporate frausters

9th September 20139th September 2013

The Industrial Development Corporation plays a key role in supporting South African manufacturing. It is proud of having created 19 000 new jobs in its most recent financial year to end March. With an asset base of R127bn and annual disbursements of R13bn, it is bound to make some mistakes. But as you’ll read from … Read more

Another sell signal for Capitec, Abil – 90% of Garnishee Orders are flawed or fraudulent

27th September 20136th September 2013

As the Marikana disaster started brewing in August 2012, a couple of reporters who used to work with me went off to see what was happening on the ground at that ill-fated village near the Lonmin Platinum Mine. One witnessed the insanity which happened on the hillock where sangomas peddled “muti” the miners believed would … Read more

Six JSE heavyweights that are dangerously overvalued – and half a dozen “cheapies”

5th September 20135th September 2013

A really well researched article always gets the readership it deserves. So I wasn’t really surprised at how much interest there was in Geoff Blount’s piece yesterday which unpacked the real reasons for the JSE ALSI strong run of the past 18 months. We invited Geoff’s colleague Andrew Newell into the CNBC Africa studio today … Read more

Discovery, the Great Disruptor, again proves why it’s a cornerstone for any long term investment portfolio

3rd September 20133rd September 2013

It’s well known in Johannesburg that the smartest kids have a straight choice between joining Discovery, the locally-based financial services group, or Glencore, the global resources giant run by Joburger Ivan Glasenberg. Both groups put a premium on intellect and an ability to embrace complexity. But while Glencore is already established in its field as … Read more

Construction blue chip WBHO is coming out of its profit trough, attracting smart money

3rd September 20133rd September 2013

Investors really liked WBHO’s 2013 financial year results. Its share price picked up 4% after chairman Mike Wylie outlined how the fall in profit margins are now in a trough from which a significant recovery is likely. He said it’s been “a long, long time” since the group’s attributable profits were just 2.9% of turnover. … Read more

Grindrod’s heavy investment in good times pays off handsomely, ends reliance on volatile shipping cycle

3rd September 20133rd September 2013

We KZN lads never really leave the province. No matter how much they might disappoint, we keep supporting the Sharks and keep an eye out for the scoresheets of the Dolphins. And when a KZN-bred racehorse does well it usually has a few of our Rand behind it. Similarly with the province’s few major listed … Read more

Dave King’s first interview after his R706m settlement with SA Revenue Services

1st September 20131st September 2013

Over the past 10 years, serial entrepreneur Dave King and SA Revenue Services have traded insults, publicly and privately. They also flirted with settlements a couple of times – including once when King claimed to have a signed agreement but SARS said the official who concluded it was not entitled – and was duly suspended. … Read more

Joffe: Bidvest has war chest of over R14bn, twinkle in his eye when mentioning Natie Kirsh and Jetro

27th August 201326th August 2013

Brian Joffe is the closest thing South Africa has to Berkshire Hathaway’s Warren Buffett. In a quarter century, Joffe has built Bidvest from scratch into an SA-headquartered global conglomerate with revenues exceeding R150bn and EBITDA of almost R10bn. His genius, like Buffett’s, lies in the ability to efficiently allocate capital. This is part of the … Read more