Star 2023-02-15

TELKOM shares leapt by 8% yesterday after the mobile operator said for the quarter ended December 31, 2022, it had grown its quarterly revenue by 2.3%, driven by continued growth in new-generation technologies and increased data consumption. The group flagged that it was also on track to unlock value for its shareholders with a full or partial disposal of the mast and towers business of Swiftnet and the sale of a stake in Openserve. Its shares rose to an intra-day high of R36.94 on the JSE, having risen by 13.72% year to date. The group flagged that top-line performance was resilient considering ongoing load shedding, pressure on consumers due to ongoing interest rate hikes, high energy and fuel prices, and other inflationary pressures on the cost of living. In its…

INSURERS are bracing for a wave of claims following the declaration by the government yesterday of a State of Disaster due to the flooding in parts of the country. President Cyril Ramaphosa yesterday declared a national state of disaster, the second in a week, to enable an intensive response to widespread flooding that has affected seven of the country’s nine provinces. He also declared the electricity crisis a state of disaster in his National State of the Nation Address last week. Mpumalanga and the Eastern Cape have been most affectedby the floods, which were brought on by the haevy rainfall as a result of the La Niña weather phenomenon, according to a statement from the office of the presidency yesterday. There was also flooding reported in Gauteng, eastern KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo,…

The move is no surprise, says World Wide Worx CEO Arthur Goldstuck TELKOM’S announcement yesterday that it would cut 15%, roughly 1 800, of its workforce was not a surprise. In fact, the only surprise was that it’s not a bigger cut, World Wide Worx CEO Arthur Goldstuck said yesterday. This follows the mobile operator informing its shareholders yesterday that it would retrench 15% of total employees across the group, citing it was challenged by managing its costs associated with the migration of rev- enue between old to new technologies. Telkom said it would enter a formal consultation process with relevant stakeholders in terms of section 189 of the Labour Relations Act (S189A process) regarding the restructuring of certain operations. “The S189A process will impact all business units and…

HOUSE price growth fell in December due to softer demand, higher living costs and deteriorating affordability, the latest FNB House Price Index showed. Annual growth in the FNB House Price Index moved slightly lower to 2.7% year-on-year in January, from 2.9% in December, with the decline spread across price segments and major cities. “We anticipate house price growth of around 2% this year, versus 3.5% and 4.2% in 2022 and 2021, respectively. “Price growth should start lifting in the second half of 2024, as interest rate pressures ease and marginal buyers return to the market,” FNB economists Siphamandla Mkhwanazi and Koketso Mano said at the release of the index. They said they expected home buying activity to decrease further in coming months as affordability becomes more stretched. Their view is…

INVESTORS have warned about the impact of load shedding on South Africa’s fiscus in the years ahead, saying that the woes brought about by rotational power cuts were yet to hit the tax revenue collection numbers. This comes as Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana will next week table the Budget in Parliament in the midst of an unprecedented energy crisis that has severely crippled economic activity. The Budget is expected to reveal that the country’s debt load has crossed the 70% mark of the gross domestic product (GDP), or has increased by nearly R700 billion more. Investec chief economist Annabel Bishop said the gross loan debt was likely to be projected near 71% of GDP for 2022/23 and run around 70.5% for the following three medium-term years of 2023/24 to…

SPAR GROUP yesterday said it had improved its online offering through an updated Spar2U App, which had just been launched, as it said in a trading update that it had delivered a robust trading performance for the 18 weeks ended January 28, 2023. The grocery retailer said its on- demand shopping platform for groceries and liquor, Spar2U continued to gain momentum amongst retailers and customers. “Having launched its pilot phase during the prior comparative period, Spar2U ramped up its availability to 201 sites at the end of the period and consumer feedback has been extremely positive. “An improved offering is now available through an updated Spar2U App, which has just been launched,” it said. Spar has needed to grow its online offering as it competes with its rivals stronger delivery…