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Siphelele Dludla siphelele.dludla@inl.co.za THE RAND briefly dipped below the key R14 level against the dollar after the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) yesterday revised upwards its economic growth forecast as it announced that it had kept the repo rate on hold. The SARB yesterday expressed optimism over the economic outlook, with the gross domestic product (GDP) now expected to expand 4.2 percent this year, up from 3.8 percent, despite the threat of a third wave of Covid-19. SARB governor Lesetja Kganyago said the bank had also revised upwards its first-quarter growth forecast to 2.7 percent, from the 0.2 percent contraction previously forecast. “The stronger growth forecast for 2021 reflects better sectoral growth performances and a more robust terms of trade in the first quarter of this…
Dineo Faku dineo.faku@inl.co.za ENVIRONMENTAL lobby group the Centre for Environmental Rights (CER) turned up the heat on ArcelorMittal South Africa (Amsa) to decarbonise urgently during the group’s annual general meeting (AGM) held virtually yesterday. Amsa is South Africa’s third-largest greenhouse gas emitter after Sasol, accounting for 2.81 percent of the country’s emissions, according to the CER’s Full Disclosure 5 report. CER lawyers, who hold a share in Amsa, said this was the third consecutive year in which the organisation participated in the AGM and protested against Amsa’s failure to respect environmental laws. The CER’s head of corporate accountability and transparency, Leanne Govindsamy, said they had seen little change in the manner in which Amsa handled environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues. “Amsa’s refusal to take steps to address concerns…
BITCOIN regained some lost ground to trade near $40 000 (about R558 770) yesterday, a day after a brutal sell-off on concerns over tighter regulation in China and unease over the extent of leveraged positions in the cryptocurrency world. The biggest cryptocurrency rose nearly 14 percent to $42 000, after plunging 14 percent on Wednesday to it lowest level since late January. Those bounces came after prominent crypto backers such as Ark Invest’s Cathie Wood and carmaker Tesla’s Elon Musk indicated their support on Wednesday. “People consider this as a ‘buy the dip’ moment, and many consider this as ‘the last chance to buy Bitcoin cheap’,” said Ruud Feltkamp, the chief executive at crypto trading bot Crypto- hopper. “The next few months will show if…
Dineo Faku dineo.faku@inl.co.za MASSMART yesterday recorded bumper sales at its Builders Warehouse stores during the 19 weeks to May 9, as demand for home improvement materials remained robust. However, lower traffic volumes at shopping malls hit its Game outlets, as shoppers avoided malls because of Covid-19. Massmart said sales at Builders were 39.4 percent better than in the previous year, at R4.9 billion, buoyed by the continued strong retail demand. The group said trade sales continue to be muted, and Builders was restricted from trading for most of April last year. “While most product categories in Builders have performed well, we especially see strong sales in paint, home improvement, garden and patio goods, indicative of consumers’ ongoing focus on investing in their living spaces,” Massmart said in a…
Sandile Mchunu sandile.mchunu@inl.co.za QUANTUM Foods, the diversified feeds and poultry business, yesterday reported a 22 percent decline in earnings for the six months to end March, primarily due to the continuous increase in input costs, which the company said could not be fully recovered from the market. Its headline earnings per share declined to 26.9 cents a share, down from the 34.5c and operating profit fell by 19 percent to R74 million while revenue increased by 8.4 percent to R2.64 billion. In South African operations, revenue was up by 8.1 percent and other African revenue increased by 13.9 percent. The cost of key feed raw materials was predominantly impacted by an increase in international prices of these commodities. “The average rand to…
Sandile Mchunu sandile.mchunu@inl.co.za TIGER Brands, South Africa’s biggest food producer, yesterday restored the payment of an interim dividend after putting it on hold last year due to the uncertainty created by the Covid-19 outbreak as it reported a 21 percent hike in earnings. The group, with brands such as Koo, Fattis and Monis, Jungle Oats, Oros, among others, declared a dividend of 320 cents a share during the period. The declaration of a dividend comes after the South African packaged goods company reported a 21 percent increase in headline earnings per share (Heps) from continuing operations to 741c. Chief financial officer Deepa Sita said last year that the board took a decision to defer the dividend payment until the year-end results, given the uncertainty at the time…
