Star 2023-08-10

NEDBANK Group shares increased more than 3% on Tuesday morning after it declared an 11% higher first-half dividend of 871 cents per share and despite management admitting the period had been much more difficult than they expected. “In the first half of 2023 the operating environment in South Africa was much more challenging than we had initially forecast,” the bank’s management said in the results. After misjudging the first half, they said they now expect the economy to remain “very challenging” due to electricity shortages and increased pressure on consumers’ disposable income. They said a “very strong” balance sheet had enabled them to declare the dividend. A R5 billion capital optimisation initiative in March involving a share repurchase and odd-lot offer had enhanced return on equity and growth…

NEDBANK Group, presenting its interim results for the six months ended June 30, 2023, on Tuesday, showed that South African household finances deteriorated significantly in the first half of the year. “Growth in real personal disposable income slowed further, constrained by modest job creation and hurt by persistently high inflation. “Double-digit increases in the prices of essentials and sharply higher interest rates significantly reduced income available for discretionary spending,” it said. Households were under pressure as the South African economy struggled to grow in the face of persistent domestic challenges. In the first quarter, the economy grew by a subdued 0.4% quarter-on-quarter, after having contracted by 1.1% in the final quarter of last year. The increase in the first quarter of 2023 mainly reflected the impact of the previous quarter’s…

Mobile operator to approach the Competition Tribunal to argue its case to buy stake in Dark Fibre Africa and Vumatel VODACOM on Tuesday said it was “disappointed“ after the Competition Commission scuppered its expansion plans by recommending its $862 mil- lion (R16 billion) deal to acquire a stake in Dark Fibre Africa and Vumatel be prohi- bited. However, the mobile operator said the recommendation was not the end of the process as it would approach the Competition Tribunal to argue its case. Vodacom in 2021 said it had acquired a 30% stake in a newly formed company Maziz, that holds Community Investment Ventures Holdings’ Vumatel and Dark Fibre Africa fibre assets. The deal at the time was punted as marking the beginning of an ambitious plan to bridge…

LIFE HEALTHCARE, South Africa’s second-largest private hospital group, has announced that it has acquired the non-clinical operations of TheraMed Nuclear Benoni. According to the group, which has nine facilities on the East Rand and surrounding area, the Benoni practice is situated adjacent to Life The Glynnwood Hospital. TheraMed utilises advanced technology such as positron emission tomography (Pet) and computed tomography (CT), known as Pet-CT, and single photon emission computed tomography (Spect) and computed tomography (CT) known as Spect-CT to reveal both the body’s structural and cellular function of cells and tissue in a single scan. “This brings finality to the Thera- Med transaction after the first two sites in Midstream and Honeydew were acquired in June 2023,” it said. The purchase of TheraMed Nuclear forms part of the Life Healthcare…

THE SHARE price of UK-based Quilter, Old Mutual’s former wealth management business, shot up more than 10% on the JSE on Tuesday after it reported a strong improvement in first-half profit and healthy fund inflows. “We have delivered a strong improvement in first half profitability, pleasing flow outcomes in the Quilter channel and improved our market share of new advised platform flows,” CEO Steven Levin said. Adjusted profit increased by 25% in the six months to June 30. On the JSE, Quilter’s share price was 11.85% higher at R19.25 on Tuesday afternoon – the price was R22.92 on the same day a year before. The share closed the day 13.31% higher at R19.50. The interim dividend of 1.5 pence a share was 25% up on the 1.2p for 2022.…

GLENCORE the largest natural re- sources company in the world, reported on Tuesday that its earnings dropped by 60% owing to commodity market imbalances and volatility. In its half-year report for the six months to June, the group said headline earnings decreased by almost 60% to about $4.28 billion (R80.7bn), and revenue fell by 20% to $107.4bn. The group said that this followed extreme global geopolitical and economic turbulence in 2022, which pushed prices for many coal and gas benchmarks to record levels. In spite of this, the group announced a “top-up” return to shareholders of $2.2bn, which includes $1bn in a special dividend and $1.2bn in share buybacks. Glencore CEO Gary Nagle said: “Against the backdrop of a normalisation of commodity market imbalances and volatility, primarily across…