Star 2022-09-27

TIGER Brands, South Africa’s biggest food producer, yesterday provided some indication of just how sharply food prices have risen after it pegged its overall basket inflation at a whopping 15% in the five months to August 31, from only 3% at March 31. “High levels of inflation are anticipated to persist across our basket well into the next financial year, which will require ongoing agility and judicious price/volume management in the face of a challenged consumer,” Tiger’s directors said in an otherwise upbeat trading statement. “Extraordinary cost pressures on soft commodities, ingredients, packaging and logistics” had made pricing realignment necessary in the group. Its many brands include Oros, Crosse & Blackwell, Ace and Beacon. The high food prices are also reflected in the latest general inflation data – Statistics SA…

RETAILER Shoprite yesterday announced that it would be offering its suppliers access to funding at affordable rates. The company is launching its new supply chain finance product, CredX, which Shoprite says could be cheaper than bank financing. The group said that it would be available to all of Shoprite’s suppliers and assist SMMEs, for whom cash flow constraints and access to affordable funding were significant business growth obstacles in South Africa. Jean Olivier, general manager: financial services, said: “There is a definite need in the market, especially among small and medium-sized suppliers, who struggle to access finance through traditional routes.“ Shoprite is launching CredX in partnership with UK-based Demica, a global market leader in supply chain financing. “This is one of several initiatives by the group aimed at supporting small…

ON TOP OF rising interest rates and South Africans set to pay more on their loans in coming months, the rand had traded 3.7 percent weaker to R18.11 by yesterday evening amid rising fears of a global recession. The rand yesterday breached the psychological R18-to-the-dollar mark, plunging to a low of R18.10, the lowest level since May 2020, on concerns of a global economic slowdown. According to at least one analyst, the local currency could possibly touch the R19-to-the-dollar mark, as growing recession worries continue to spook investors into seeking the safety of the greenback. Risk assets, including equities, emerging market portfolio assets and emerging market currencies, fell as investors moved increasingly into safe haven investments. Anchor Capital co-chief investment officer Nolan Wapenaar said the financial markets were surprised and…

AS ESKOM continues to implement rotational power cuts, President Cyril Ramaphosa has painfully admitted that the government will fail to end load shedding in the short term. This means that Eskom’s recent assessment of load shedding over the next 18 to 24 months will prevail as forecast, barring a miracle in the power utility’s generation capacity. Ramaphosa yesterday moved to make a sober analysis of the country’s energy crisis following a Cabinet meeting last week, saying that there were no quick fixes for load shedding. In his weekly newsletter, Ramaphosa lamented the dire consequences of intensified load shedding, saying that it affected education, public safety, the provision of health services and that the energy crisis was endangering investment and the economic recovery. “Given the unpredictable performance of Eskom’s fleet of…

GEMFIELDS, the supplier of coloured gemstones, said yesterday that for the six months ending June 30, 2022, it expected its net profit after tax to more than double as auctions return to normal schedule. Auctions were disrupted in 2020 and 2021 after the Covid-19 pandemic outbreak. In a trading statement ahead of its interim results, it said it was likely that net profit after tax would rise by 149.7% year-year to R864 million. It expects headline earnings per share to increase by 133.33% to 0.56 cents. The Gemfields Group, based in London and listed on the Johannesburg and London stock exchanges, is focused on mining emeralds at the Kagem mine in Zambia and the Montepuez ruby mine in Mozambique. Gemfields said its two key operating assets, MRM and…

ANGLO AMERICAN announced the start of commercial copper operations at its Quellaveco project in Peru yesterday, following the successful testing of operations and final regulatory clearance. In a statement, Anglo American said Quellaveco was expected to produce 300 000 tons per year of copper equivalent volume on average over its first 10 years. Anglo American chief executive Duncan Wanblad said: “Quellaveco alone is expected to lift our total global output by 10% in copper equivalent terms and take our total copper production close to 1 million tons per year. “At a highly competitive operating cost, Quellaveco exemplifies the asset and return profile that is central to our portfolio quality and our ability to provide customers with a reliable and sustainable supply of future-enabling metals.” Anglo American’s Base Metals…