Star 2021-06-24

Dineo Faku dineo.faku@inl.co.za DE BEERS, the world’s biggest diamond producer by volume, has reported a strong demand for its rough diamonds during its fifth sales cycle as India recovered from the fatal second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic. De Beers, a unit of Anglo American plc which holds 10 sales cycles a year for its rough diamonds during sight holder sales and auctions, yesterday recorded a provisional fifth sales cycle value of $470 million (R6.71 billion). The company said that owing to the restrictions on the movement of people and products in various jurisdictions around the globe, it had continued to implement a more flexible approach to rough diamond sales during the fifth sales cycle of 2021, with the Sight event extended beyond its normal week-long duration. It said…

Siphelele Dludla siphelele.dludla@inl.co.za INTEREST rates are expected to remain contained this year despite consumer prices peaking to a 30-month high in May from a very low base a year ago. Statistics South Africa (StatsSA) said yesterday that the annual consumer price index (CPI) accelerated to 5.2 percent in May year-on-year from 4.4 percent in April. The print was the highest inflation rate since November 2018, driven up by transport, food and non-alcoholic beverages. StatsSA said transport prices in- creased by 15.3 percent while food inflation increased for the third straight month in May. Economists said yesterday that the upswing should be the peak for headline inflation, which was expected to end 2021 at 4 percent. Anchor Capital’s Casey Delport said the CPI print came in as…

Siphelele Dludla siphelele.dludla@inl.co.za THE RAND traded higher yesterday after starting the week on the back foot an avowed US Federal Reserve decision not to raise rates too quickly despite inflationary pressures The rand struggled this week as concerns about the third wave of Covid-19 cases and possible stricter lockdown measures mounted in South Africa. However, yesterday, the rand gained 0.17 percent to R14.19 against the dollar by 5pm amid a softer greenback, in spite of consumer price inflation in South Africa rising by 5.2 percent year-on-year in May. This was the first time inflation has gone above the midpoint of the target band since February 2020 and the first time inflation has exceeded 5 percent since November 2018. The rand begun paring losses on Tuesday after…

Edward West edward.west@inl.co.za ATTACQ would consider more residential developments at Waterfall City in partnership with Cape Town-based developer DTE Properties, depending on the sales uptake of the 400-unit The Mix, Attacq’s chief development officer Giles Pendleton said. Attacq and DTE yesterday, in a 50/50 joint venture, launched the R500 million The Mix, which will extend about 13 storeys, just adjacent, but linked to Attacq’s Mall of Africa in Waterfall City. Attacq’s chief development officer Giles Pendleton said in a presentation yesterday that 70 percent of the studio, one and two-bedroomed units, to be priced from R1m to R2m, would need to be sold before construction began, but they expected that all the units would be sold in four to six months. DTE director Robin Magid said the development…

EDWARD WEST edward.west@inl.co.za LOCAL property fundamentals remain under pressure despite signs of an economic upturn, but the sectoral and geographical diversity of Emira Property Fund’s assets were likely to again prove defensive through the third wave of the pandemic. As anticipated, however, vacancies had increased to 6.5 percent of gross letting area at the end of May 2021, up from 5.9 percent at the end of December 2020, the group said in a pre-close statement yesterday. Tenant retention was a focus and 80 percent (by revenue) of leases that matured in the 11 months to May 31 were retained. However, retaining tenants and attracting new ones came at a cost, with the weighted average reversions for the same period at -14.6 percent versus -15.4 percent…

Sandile Mchunu sandile.mchunu@inl.co.za OLD MUTUAL yesterday warned the slow vaccination programme in the country, coupled with a third wave of Covid-19 infections and load shedding, could derail the pace of economic recovery in South Africa. South Africa has vaccinated about 2.23 million of its citizens, with only 480 000 that are fully vaccinated, which represents less than 1 percent of the country’s population. The pan-African financial services group said in an operational update for the five months to the end May that vaccination roll-outs across the continent had been slow an,d according to Bloomberg data, only eight countries have vaccinated more than 5 percent of their populations to date. “Covid-19 infection rates are rising as the third wave continues to gain momentum in South Africa. “The…