Cape Times 2025-12-11

Mr Price Group’s share price plunged by over 13% on the JSE Wednesday after it announced the R10 billion acquisition of a store chain in Eastern Europe, marking the biggest cash value retailer in South Africa’s entry into the European market. The group plans to acquire NKD Group GmbH (NKD), a leading value retailer with 2 108 stores across Central and Eastern Europe, a move that brings Mr Price’s total store count to over 5,000. NKD would be acquired from funds managed by TDR Capital, based in Germany. NKD sells affordable apparel and homeware and employs over 10 000 people. Mr Price said the deal is a “transformational step in the group’s long‑term growth strategy.” Mr Price Group’s share price fell 13.46% to R181.76 in the afternoon. The price is…

Transnet and International Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI), the world’s largest independent terminal operator, on Wednesday formally signed a 25-year partnership agreement for the operation and upgrade of Durban Container Terminal (DCT) Pier 2. The signing concludes a lengthy process that included a court challenge lodged by APM Terminals, a Maersk subsidiary, which contested the awarding of the port terminal development contract. ICTSI’s victory in the matter in October cleared the way for the partnership to proceed. Transnet described the agreement as a landmark milestone in South Africa’s economic reform agenda and its strategy to attract private-sector investment into key logistics operations. The State-owned company said ICTSI’s involvement is expected to enhance terminal productivity, increase throughput, and strengthen the country’s container supply chains. According to Transnet, ICTSI has a globally…

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has cautioned that South Africa should be more proactive in protecting local airlines owed money from blocked funds abroad, even though the country itself does not appear on IATA’s latest list of nations restricting repatriation of airline revenues. IATA’s newly released global report shows that $1.2 billion in airline revenues remain trapped by governments worldwide, with only a marginal $100 million improvement since April 2025. A striking 93% of these blocked funds are located in Africa and the Middle East (AME). Kamil Al-Awadhi, regional vice president for Africa and the Middle East, on Wednesday said South Africa should be “concerned” that its carriers are being supplied and sustained by revenue that is effectively inaccessible. "There is no blocked funds in South Africa. However, the…

Online trading platform directors face blanket debarment from the industry for 30 years The Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) has taken decisive action against Banxso (Pty) Ltd and its key individuals, imposing a staggering R2 billion in administrative penalties for a range of serious financial misconduct offences. Alongside the hefty penalty confirmed on Banxso and its directors, Harel Adam Sekler and Warwick David Sneider, the regulator also levied an additional fine of R16 million on the company for various other contraventions. Individual penalties were imposed on directors Manuel de Andrade, Mohammed Bux, and Henry James Simpson, amounting to R20 million, R10 million, and R5 million, respectively. All four directors — Sekler, Sneider, de Andrade, and Bux — face a blanket debarment from the industry for a period of 30 years,…

Consumers have placed Discovery Bank first in DataEQ’s South African Banking Sentiment Index. The index analysed 4.8 million online consumer mentions from September 1, 2024 to August 31, 2025. This as the industry recorded its strongest overall performance in ten years, achieving an overall Net Sentiment of 27%. Discovery maintained its position as South Africa’s most positively spoken-about bank, achieving an industry-leading 61% Net Sentiment. This was driven by praise for its rewards programmes, personalised benefits, and overall banking experience, along with campaign-linked advocacy through hashtags such as #DiscoveryBestBank and #TreatMeTuesday. FNB followed with 46% Net Sentiment, supported by positive conversation around eWallet, FNB Connect, and praise towards branch service. The #LoveFNB campaign added further improved sentiment, with customers highlighting app usability, payment convenience, and eBucks rewards. Absa placed…

The PayInc Economic Index, measuring the value of all electronic transactions processed through PayInc, levelled off in November 2025 but stayed higher than a year ago. This was after six months of consecutive gains. Continued resilience and improving economic indicators point to encouraging developments for the economy. “The PayInc Economic Index held steady at 103.1 in November, unchanged from October. Despite this pause, the index is still 3.5% higher than a year ago and has grown by an average of 2.9% year-to-date, nearly double the 1.5% registered in 2024,” said Shergeran Naidoo, Head of Stakeholder Engagements at PayInc. After reaching an all-time high of 188.9 million in October, the number of transactions cleared through PayInc in November subsided to 179.9 million but was still up by 8.1% on a year…