Star 2022-03-16

Edward West edward.west@inl.co.za ABSA, FirstRand, Nedbank and Standard Bank delivered better-than-expected financial performances in 2021 and might reach 2019 pre-pandemic earnings level this year, PricewaterhouseCoopers’ (PwC) Financial Services Industry Leader Costa Natsas said yesterday. Interviewed at the release of PwC’s 2021 Major Banks Analysis, Natsas said if you were to ask him a year ago when he expected bank earnings to recover to 2019 levels, he would have said in 2023, perhaps. Combined headline earnings of the major banks at R86.8 billion had increased 99 percent in 2021 compared with 2020 and came in only slightly below the 2019 level, he said. The main contributor to the rise in earnings was a 60 percent decrease in credit impairment charges after economies started recovering as Covid restrictions eased.…

Edward West edward.west@inl.co.za WHATSAPP has denied it was engaged in anti-competitive conduct and that it had tried to exclude GovChat from the market. The social media platform was responding to the Competition Commission’s plan to refer Meta Platforms (formerly Facebook) and its subsidiaries WhatsApp and Facebook South Africa to the Competition Tribunal for prosecution for abuse of dominance. The commission wants Meta Platforms and its subsidiaries to face a maximum fine of 10 percent of their turnover. However, “GovChat has repeatedly refused to comply with our policies that are designed to protect citizens and their information, preferring to prioritise its own commercial interests over the public. We will continue to defend WhatsApp from abuse and protect our users,” a statement from WhatsApp said yesterday. The Competition Commission alleged that…

Siphelele Dludla siphelele.dludla@inl.co.za MINERAL Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe has shot down suggestions that South Africa should approach Russia and negotiate a deal to buy oil directly from them as means of mitigating rocketing fuel prices in the country. South Africa is grappling with record fuel price hikes as the elevated global price of Brent crude oil reached 14-year highs this month following sanctions by Western countries on Russian oil. Briefing Parliament yesterday, Mantashe said that South Africa would not follow their BRICS partners’ forays in seeking deals with Russia, but allow market forces to dictate. “We don’t buy from Russia. There is something that is called the market. It’s not an issue of which country you buy (from),” Mantashe said. “There is a cartel like Opec where the…

Siphelele Dludla siphelele.dludla@inl.co.za THE TOURISM and leisure industry has been left in the lurch after the government decided not to bring to an end the lockdown regulations as expected, in spite of looming litigation. Minister of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, yesterday announced the extension of the National State of Disaster for another month to April 15. Yesterday marked two years since the National State of Disaster was first declared in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Dlamini Zuma said the regulations were extended due to “the need to continue augmenting existing legislation and contingency arrangements undertaken by organs of the State to address the impact of the disaster”. This means that tourist establishments and sports events will still have to adhere to restrictions regulating the capacity…

Given Majola given.majola@inl.co.za FOLLOWING a period of heightened optimism supported by favourable agricultural production conditions, the Agbiz/IDC Agribusiness Confidence Index (ACI) declined in the first quarter (Q1) of 2022 as rising fuel, fertiliser and agrochemicals costs worry the sector. The index fell by 12 points to 62 points after reaching its second- highest level on record in the fourth quarter of 2021. A level above the neutral 50-point mark implies that agribusinesses remained optimistic about operating conditions. This meant that the first-quarter results still reflected favourable conditions, albeit not as strong as the recent quarters. Agricultural Business Chamber (Agbiz) chief economist Wandile Sihlobo said that the Agbiz/IDC ACI’s first-quarter results presented a picture of a sector that was still on solid footing, despite the uncertainty generated by…

ONE OF THE key issues announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa in his State of the Nation Address (Sona) was the outcome of the Presidential State Owned Enterprises (SOE) Council’s recommendations. The council recommended, as part of SOE reform agenda, the adoption of a centralised shareholder model for its key commercial state-owned companies. The model entails separating the state’s ownership functions from its policy making and regulatory functions, minimising the scope of political interference and introduce greater professionalism and manage state assets in a way that protects shareholder value. While not explicitly stated, the model is that of Singapore’s Temasek Holdings. What does this model entail and would the centralisation of SOEs help advance South Africa’s economic and social development agenda, given South Africa’s stage of development? What similarities, superficial or…