Unchallenged as South Africa’s most influential daily newspaper, The Star covers the heart of the nation with unequalled reporting of local, national and international news and sport. It is widely considered to be a superb advertising environment.
CAPITEC Bank yesterday posted a surge in annual profits, one-third higher than pre-pandemic levels, as its active client base increased by 14 percent and as its shareholders received a whopping dividend. For the year ended February 2022, headline earnings per share, a gauge used to show profitability, grew by 84 percent to R73 per share. This as active clients rising to 1.81 million and its digital banking clients increased by 17 percent to 10.1 million – a very strong growth. Headline earnings rose to R8.4 billion from R4.6bn, while operating income before credit impairments grew by 17 percent to R27bn. Profit after tax improved to R8.5bn, from R4.46bn in 2021.Capitec chief executive Gerrie Fourie said the company delivered stellar results across the business.…
POWER utility Eskom yesterday warned South Africa faced a worse case scenario of up to 100 days of rotational load shedding over the winter period due to infrastructures uncertainties, while flagging that its operations in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) had been effected by the floods. This could have a dire reflection on the reputation of South Africa’s tentative economic recovery from the post-Covid 19 pandemic, which could be derailed if Eskom fails to manage its production capacity. More loadshedding would likely impact on industries slowly gaining ground, including manufacturing, the automotive sector and food production. Eskom’s National Control Manager, Gavin Hurford said in a media briefing yesterday that the utility anticipated about 100 days of loadshedding over the winter season, which would depend on grid capacity. “We do not say it…
THE SOUTH African Reserve Bank (SARB) has warned that consumer prices for food and transport could increase further if the hostilities in Ukraine continue to intensify. SARB lead economist Dr Witness Simbanegavi yesterday said the domestic headline inflation could rise if oil and gas supplies are additionally constrained due to the war. The SARB forecasts headline inflation to average 5.8 percent in 2022, well above the 4.9 percent forecast in January this year, and with risks tilted to the upside. Simbanegavi said the upward drift in inflation expectations and sharply higher producer prices further tilt the inflation risk to the upside. He said higher expected wage growth, a somewhat weaker rand and further advances in global goods prices could exert additional upward pressure on headline inflation. “We want…
ECONOMIC activity in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) has ground to a halt after torrential rains left a trail of billions of rand in infrastructure damage and threw supply chains into disarray. At least 300mm of rainfall bucketed down into the province over the last 2 days and washed away major logistics routes such as the N2 highway and damaged warehouses in business hubs, especially in Prospecton south of Durban. The South African National Roads Agency (Sanral) yesterday announced that flooding resulted in the closure of access to the Durban Port via road. Sanral’s eastern region design and construction manager Ravi Ronny said some sections of the N3 were also partially closed due to the upgrades, and the floods had exacerbated the situation on the network. “Bayhead Road, which pro- vides access to…
SOUTH Africa’s red meat industry was now at a crisis stage, as the burden of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) was threatening livelihoods and the sector’s viability, the Red Meat and Livestock Primary Cluster said yesterday. Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD) Minister Thoko Didiza announced that the country was battling 56 outbreak cases of FMD involving farms and communal areas in the Free State, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, the North West and Gauteng. Louw van Reenen, the cluster’s spokesperson and chief executive of the Beefmaster Group, said yesterday that Africa had been plagued by outbreaks since 2019, with disastrous consequences. “In March 2022, the latest FMD outbreak resulted in China suspending imports from South Africa of all cloven- hoofed animal goods, including wool, beef and other red meat products,” Van…
STEVE Brookes, the chief executive of Balwin Properties, yesterday stood by the strategic purchase of the group’s new head office as he revealed the mortgage per month would largely be paid for by the placement of Africa’s largest digital signboard on the side of their building. Brookes in an interview yesterday cleared the air after there was a social media backlash with market participants questioning the capital outlay and “flashy” office. “I apologise to shareholders that we did not raise more awareness around the move. “I believe we could have been more pro-active in telling this good story before the news announcement. We have learned a lesson. We have actually disclosed this move before, but people do forget,” the chief executive said. Brookes said they had been pursuing the Melrose…
