The world is changing fast and to keep up you need local knowledge with global context.
This section houses interviews conducted by Biznews, both video and audio, and other interesting inputs sourced from Third Parties.
ALEC HOGG: Earlier today I spoke to Italtile’s Chief Financial Officer, Brandon Wood. The results were released today for the year to end June and the big news there is a special dividend of 50c per share. This, in addition to an 8c final dividend kind of puts it into perspective. The Company did … Read more
South Africa’s gold mining industry has been its own worst enemy. As richer seams were worked out and profit margins squeezed, corporate managers rarely grabbed the nettle. Instead of adapting to new realities by addressing the underlying issue of continuously declining productivity, every year they buckled to excessive trade union demands. So the labour:capital ratio … Read more
Royal Bafokeng Platinum is near the epicenter of South Africa’s labour relations minefield . But in contrast to its peers, the Black owned and run business has negotiated skillfully enough to avoid any explosions. As CEO Steve Phiri explains in this interview, that’s been helped by the dominance which the more mature NUM has at … Read more
Mike Upton has had a lot to deal with in the six years since taking the helm at construction business Group Five. What he discovered when moving into the executive suite concerned him so much that he convinced his directorate to back him and report tender abuses to the Competitions Commission. What followed was the … Read more
Crown Mines in the south of Johannesburg is best known today for its golf course. But in the early years of the last century it was the highest producing gold mine on earth. Alongside other rich operations like CMR, Village Main and Simmer & Jack, its name was known by investors all over the world. … Read more
David Hathorn is married to my cousin Megan. They are both chartered accountants. We’re not close, but because of the family connection I’ve watched his career. Mostly in awe. David was identified as a rising star early on former Anglo American CEO Tony Trahar. And when Trahar, also a CA, was promoted from then wholly … Read more
Mark Lamberti has family roots in Newcastle, the town in Northern KZN where I grew up. So from the time we met in the 1990s, I’ve kept a close watch on his progress – as one tends to do with a “home boy”. Mark’s creation, Massmart, is now worth R35bn, and in the ultimate accolade, … Read more
“Paul is a real estate novelist…” sang Billy Joel in his classic Piano Man, the perfect description for those who turn wrecks into renovator’s dreams; broom cupboards into cosy. But at R60m for a penthouse, you might expect more than a line opening with “Refrigerated walk-in wine room, 4 palatial bedrooms with the wooden floor … Read more
There’s been a lot of noise around talented jockey S’Manga Khumalo becoming the first black to pilot a winner of the Vodacom Durban July. Rightly so. But in the excitement, an even bigger breakthrough is forgotten – 2011’s J&B Met when the Hassen Adams-owned Past Master made him the first black owner to win South Africa’s … Read more
I bought some Village Main Reef shares this afternoon. A full trading session since my interview with CEO Marius Saaiman (below), I’m fulfilling my internal rule of never using the advantageous timing we journalists enjoy to buy or sell a share. By now, the whole world could have studied what Saaiman told me on Friday … Read more