The JD Group’s share price jumped 5% from approximately R23 per share to R24 per share at the opening of today’s market following news that it intends to sell its financing arm to an international consumer finance group. JD Group is just one of the South African companies which have been hit by exposure to … Read more
As the share price of Abil was plunging to a third of yesterday’s value (down from 688c to 250c), head of equities at Sanlam, Patrice Rassou, offered a large shareholder’s perspective of the fall and fall of Abil, once a darling of the South African investment community. This morning’s news that with further uncovering of … Read more
A well known critique of corporate environments across the world is that they lack sufficient influence of female leadership. It is often noted that although companies should have certain quotas of women in leadership, they do not, because of the small pool of available talent. Many argue that despite where we are in terms of … Read more
David Shapiro has a keen sense of what is going in the world. His years of experience have provided him the benefit of a training ground that allows him to see through the noise, into the balanced reality of the situation. David’s insights into the markets locally and globally are always refreshing because of the … Read more
South African self-made billionaire Markus Jooste (53) has come a long way from his modest Highveld youth. In the past 18 years, the chartered accountant has grown Steinhoff International from a small furniture manufacturer into a R120-billion multinational challenger to global giant IKEA. He put another notch in his belt this week when concluding a $725m … Read more
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) –Â South Africa’s main stock indices inched to record highs on Thursday, tracking an upbeat tone in major overseas markets, with mining shares adding the most points as metal prices advanced. Bourse and mining heavyweight Anglo American gained 2.66 percent to 279.65 rand and rival BHP Billiton was up 1.54 percent at 367.21 rand. … Read more
The mining sector strike is finally over, and workers and mine bosses are justifiably jubilant that can start working again. However, the end of the strike does not mean that things are going to be great from here on. Restarting work on mine shafts is a slow, difficult, and dangerous process (which is why no … Read more
The realities of South Africa’s platinum strike place the appeal of the country as an investment haven for foreign direct investment in stark light. The union and the miners have settled, but one can’t help but feel that the juice was not worth the squeeze for the striking miners. The truth of the matter at … Read more
I received a good fix of Afro-Optimism yesterday. Breakfast with a good friend who’s having fun building a business north of the Limpopo. Among the benefits, he says, is how those he works with don’t see skin colour, just the skills he brings. That was followed by an interview with one of the US’s top … Read more
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – South African furniture retailer JD Group on Wednesday cut the size of its planned rights offer by 60 percent, after agreeing to shift its funding to top shareholder Steinhoff International. JD Group, which has been saddled with bad debts as cash-strapped consumers failed to make payments, had planned to raise around 2.5 billion rand … Read more