By Ian Liddle, chief investment officer, and Andrew Lapping, portfolio manager, Allan Gray: African Bank’s failure has had a small, negative impact on our Allan Gray Equity, Balanced and Stable Funds. We have valued African Bank securities held in the Allan Gray Unit Trusts as follows: The unit trust prices of 11 August 2014 reflect … Read more
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – Credit rating agency Fitch on Wednesday cut its rating on South Africa’s Naspers‘ senior unsecured debt to non investment grade or “junk status”, citing a deterioration in its profitability due to hefty investment in development. Fitch cut its rating to BB+ from BBB-, it said in a statement.
African Bank has experienced a disastrous time of late, with its share price falling to unprecedented levels, its CEO of 23 years stepping down and the trade of its debt and equity being suspended on the JSE. The downward spiral resulted in the Reserve Bank announcing that it would pay R7bn for Abil’s bad loan … Read more
By David Dolan JOHANNESBURGÂ (Reuters) – Shares in bailed-out South African lender African Bank Investments (Abil) were suspended on Monday, as investors shrugged off a financial meltdown that appeared to pose no wider risk to the banking sector. The central bank and commercial banks stepped in on Sunday with a $1.6 billion plan to rescue Abil … Read more
By David Dolan and Ed Cropley JOHANNESBURGÂ (Reuters) – Investors fled African Bank Investments on Thursday, sending its shares tumbling to a near-20 year low as the South African lender looked unable to plug a $790 million hole in its finances from a tide of unsecured loans that have gone bad. The bank, widely known as … Read more
By Mariano Andrade Argentina was in default Thursday for the second time in 13 years after the failure of last-ditch talks with US hedge funds it has branded “vultures.” After hours of meetings Wednesday in New York, Economy Minister Axel Kicillof emerged to confirm that no deal had been reached, leaving Latin America’s third largest … Read more
Don’t confuse the symptom with the cause. Identifying the real cause of a situation is useless without knowing and understanding what drives the cause. Without this knowledge, any projections and calculations you make will be useless. That is the centrepiece of the latest tip from Mario Pretorius. Like any decent lawyer, he says, you will … Read more
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – South Africa’s credit regulator said on Thursday it had ordered the local unit of British payday lender Wonga to improve its compliance, after finding the company did not verify the income of its customers. The National Credit Regulator said it ordered Wonga to submit an audit report and remove adverse credit bureau listings from some of its … Read more
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – Standard Bank Group, Africa’s largest lender, said on Thursday that bad debts have ticked higher in the first four months of this year, the latest sign South African borrowers remain under pressure from a weak economy. Borrowers in Africa’s most developed economy are struggling with high unemployment and softer growth, making it harder for them … Read more
I instinctively dislike lenders who work in the unsecured segment of the market. They are promising hope to desperate people, but know that what they are actually selling is only going to get many of their customers into deeper financial trouble. Aside from the moral issues, it stands to reason that people who are sucked … Read more