Star 2022-10-04

The auditors in Steinhoff and Tongaat Hulett are being investigated by the Independent Regulatory Board for Auditors (IRBA) to establish if there was any improper conduct, according to IRBA CEO Imre Nagy. In an interview with Business Report, Nagy said there were cases of management fraud and corruption in the JSE-listed entities, notably Steinhoff and Tongaat Hulett. Nagy said the Steinhoff case was a complicated investigation and was still ongoing. “We anticipate that we will know by the first quarter of 2023, whether there are any charges of improper conduct,” he said. Embattled Steinhoff was involved in a financial scandal where some of its management had manipulated the balance sheet, while Tongatt Hulett’s executives were charged with backdating sale agreements between March 2015 and September 2018. Last week, the IRBA…

Armaments worth R80 billion destined for Ukraine and bought from a private local company have created a diplomatic pickle for South Africa, after the International Air Services Council shot down the Foreign Operator’s Permit (FOP) for an Export Permit for Conventional Arms and Services that had already been granted by the Department of Defence. Tensions between the government and the council are reported to have peaked after a FOP application was made in July, but can only be endorsed by the council, which refuses to endorse it on moral grounds. “The FOP has not been granted yet, what has been signed off is by the Department of Defence and others relevant government departments, but the consignment cannot take off without the council’s approval,” a source close to the transaction said.…

NASPERS said yesterday the planned $4.7 billion (R84.7 billion) acquisition of BillDesk by subsidiary Prosus had fallen through, because “certain conditions precedent were not fulfilled.” The leading international technology group on August 31 announced that an agreement had been reached between PayU Payments Private (PayU), a subsidiary of Prosus, and the shareholders of the Indian digital payments provider BillDesk, to acquire BillDesk for $4.7bn, which at that time was worth some R65bn. The deal was reportedly would have been one of the biggest in India’s tech sector and the biggest so far attempted by Prosus. “This is good news as the price was struck in 2021 before tech shares started to fall,” @WayneMcCurrie commented yesterday on Twitter yesterday and “why did it terminate” @hudude81 questioned? “BillDesk shareholders are shocked. This…

NATIONAL Treasury has increased the allowance for retirement funds to invest offshore from 30% to 45%, and simultaneously collapsed the 10% African allowance. This is a big change for the asset management industry, which, excluding Africa, had moved its offshore allowance from 15% to just 30% in the first 25 years of democracy. What, if anything, does the change in foreign exchange regulations mean for your investment strategy? Surprisingly, in the short term, perhaps not much. Post the regulatory change, we engaged 14 asset management companies in the multi-asset mandates we make use of, and none intended to increase their foreign exposure in the short term, given their view that valuations still favoured SA assets. We suspect, though, that in the medium term the changes are likely to be profound,…

SOUTH Africa’s industrial production fell back into contractionary territory in September as the severity of intensified power cuts during the month hampered both output and demand. The seasonally adjusted Absa Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI), released yesterday, fell to 48.2 index points in September from an improved 52.1 index points in August. Absa said more intense load shedding during the month was likely to blame for the decline relative to August, with the index averaging 49.3 points in the third quarter. The September PMI print pointed to a renewed contraction in the country’s manufacturing activity as Eskom ramped up its rotational load shedding to Stage 6 and maintained Stage 4 for more than two weeks. September was by far the worst month of the year in terms of the cumulative amount…

Rising interest rates and worsening power cuts have slowed the momentum of new vehicle sales growth in South Africa as load shedding hits production, while rising interest rates impact purchasing power. This comes as aggregate domestic new vehicle sales in September recorded a 10.8% increase at 47 786 units, from the 43 147 vehicles sold in September, 2021. The September print reflected a year-on-year increase of 4 639 units, and a slight monthly increase of 366 units from 47 420 vehicles sold in August. The Automotive Business Council (Naamsa) yesterday said the new vehicle market continued to reflect a healthy performance, but the pace of recovery has started to slow down. Naamsa pointed to the despondency about load shedding and other weakening economic indicators for this slowing momentum. Naamsa CEO…