Star 2023-08-22

Curro marked 25 years of commitment towards its independent schools with a strong financial performance in the first half of its 2023 year – recurring headline earnings surged 34% to R203 million. CEO Cobus Loubser said: “Reaching a quarter-century is a significant achievement. These positive numbers are a testament to Curro’s dedication to imparting quality education over the years.” The average number of learners increased 3% in the period, bringing the count to 72 385. This contributed to a 16% revenue increase to R2.4 billion, up from R2.1bn in the first half of last year. Operational expenses were up about 15%, of which just over 1.5% comprised expenses for alternative energy generation such as diesel generators and maintenance, Loubser said in a telephone interview. Employee costs rose 11%…

EMERGING market (EM) equities sank to two-month lows yesterday as the latest stimulus measures from China disappointed investors and economic data out of the country has worsened, market analysts said yesterday. The MSCI’s EM equities index fell 0.4% to mark its eighth consecutive day in the red yesterday, and it was the longest losing streak of the index since April 2022. Investec chief economist Annabel Bishop said in a note yesterday that the rand had remained at very weak levels, near R19 per dollar over the past week, as it was negatively affected by the risk-averse global financial market environment, in particular concerns over China’s growth prospect. “The global economy has seen its economic growth rate slow, and trade conditions have become defragmented, while geopolitical risks have resulted in Western…

THE INDUSTRIAL Development Corporation (IDC) and Bank of China (BoC) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to strengthen regional trade and investment as South Africa made a strong case for investing in the manufacturing of green energy components in the country. As part of the MoU, the IDC and BOC are in the process of concluding a R10 billion funding package for tangible projects spread across energy, infrastructure, manufacturing, agriculture and mining sectors over five years. The forum was focused on issues related to funding mechanisms to support industrial value chain, enab- ling greener manufacturing, building a resilient industrial value chain and regional manufacturing hub in South Africa, and green industrialisation Speaking during the manufacturing forum at the BRICS Business Council yesterday, Trade, Industry and Competition Minister Ebrahim…

CUMESH Moodliar has been appointed as the next CEO of Investec Bank. In a statement yesterday, the firm said its board had begun the next stage of its approved executive succession plan. It had previously announced that its current CEO, Richard Wainwright, would step down in 2024 and that it was seeking a successor to fill the role. Cumesh would take the leadership reins on April 1, 2024. Wainwright would at that time remain an executive of Investec Limited until his planned retirement in 2025. Cumesh has been with Investec since 2012 in a number of roles, including regional head of the Private Bank in the Eastern Cape, national banking head, head of the Private Bank and more recently the head of the Private Client Franchise. Fani Titi, Investec Group…

THE DEVELOPMENT bank founded by the BRICS countries is planning to issue its first Indian rupee bond by October, its chief operating officer said yesterday as the lender comes under pressure to raise and lend more in local currencies. The New Development Bank (NDB) issued its first rand bond in South Africa last week and could consider local currency issuance in fellow members Brazil and Russia, and the United Arab Emirates, Vladimir Kazbekov told a press briefing ahead of the BRICS summit in Johannesburg. “We’re going to tap (the) Indian market – rupees – maybe by October in India,” Kazbekov said. “Now we start thinking seriously … to use one member country’s currency to finance projects with that currency in another member; let’s say, a project in South Africa to…

Jubilee Metals Group is on an ex- citing growth path in South Africa and Zambia after completing de- velopment work for the design of its copper tailings processing solution, CEO Leon Coetzer said yesterday. The diversified metals processor in Africa said yesterday the upgrade and commissioning of a brownfield chrome processing facility on the western limb of the Bushveld Complex has been completed and reached targeted output. The company provided an update of its chrome joint venture expansion project in South Africa and of its Roan Concentrator in Zambia yesterday. Notably, it announced that ad- vanced discussions were under way for its next partnership agreement targeting an additional 600 000 tons a year processing capacity. The existing long-term chrome processing partnership provides potential for additional chrome…