Paul Whitburn, a team member of deep value investment house Re:CM, shares the forthright approach of company founder and chairman Piet Viljoen. Whitburn, our market watcher on CNBC Africa’s Power Lunch today, dispensed with diplomacy in a conversation which ranged from BHP Billiton’s bearish view on South Africa through to a view on why companies … Read more
I have no empirical evidence. But my gut-feel is were you to ask the smartest young people in South Africa to name their preferred corporate employer, right now Allan Gray, Glencore and Discovery would be at or near the top of the list. Of the three, I’ve had the longest relationship with Allan Gray, first … Read more
South Africa’s Government today reaffirmed its determination to exploit shale gas reserves in the Karoo Basin. From our conversations, Trade & Industry Minister Rob Davies is well aware of the potential. It’s now clear he’s done a grand job of getting the Cabinet excited – judging by the speech which SA President Jacob Zuma delivered … Read more
PWC’s latest report on the SA mining industry makes sorry reading, with turbulent labour relations and wages lagging productivity once again highlighted as the key problem areas. Which begs the question of why mining companies don’t apply any of their own rights under law. Scared by threats the labour-friendly SA Government will remove their mineral … Read more
Wescoal has reported some stellar interim results thanks largely to the inclusion of Intibane Colliery in its interim numbers. The performance highlights how Wescoal’s strategy of identifying attractive assets and leveraging them to boost revenues over the short to medium term has paid off. In this interview, Wescoal CEO Andre Boje talks about Wescoal’s plans … Read more
Sanlam’s operation in London has the advantage of being able to consider the entire world – so it’s interesting to see a research note pointing out that its favourites of the moment are LVMH and Phillip Morris – direct alternatives to Richemont and BAT which are so popular with SA investors. Popularity that has clearly … Read more
My UNDICTATED column for Business Day this week has a look at something very close to the heart. In the mid 1990s, I ran Group Communications at ABSA. Among the responsibilities was media relations, an especially tricky task. The relationship between the bank and reporters was at rock bottom. It wasn’t exactly my forte’ either. … Read more
News that R700bn Glencore is working on a secondary listing on the JSE has brought focus onto the issue of pent-up demand for global stocks among South African institutional investors. Because they’re limited by legislation to how much they may invest abroad, there’s billions of investible rand available for stocks like Glencore once they list … Read more
There’s much to be said for personal experience. My first stock market bubble was in 1987. Things were so crazy back then that my employer, Prescon, ran a daily share tipping service. Punters would phone an answering machine which would play my recorded “tip” of the day. They paid the equivalent of R8 000 a month … Read more
Hi there, I had a hunch last week’s invitation to write for Biznewz would generate positive response. What actually happened blew me away. Best read stories on the site on Wednesday and Thursday were both by community members. And today we’re heading for a trifecta with the lovely “What it means to be an African”. … Read more