Star 2023-10-02

It announces that it is eyeing four African markets: Morocco, Rwanda, Senegal and SA STELLANTIS, hard on the heels of a massive investment plan in the Eastern Cape, has announced that it will through its Auto24.africa platform, also begin making further inroads into South Africa’s used car market. Auto24.africa said this week it plans to enter four new African markets: Morocco, Rwanda, Senegal and South Africa. The expansion, according to the company, positions the platform to become the continent’s number one multi-brand retailer for used cars. But it will face much competition in the local market, where online companies such as WeBuyCars and AutoTrader have been making big inroads into what was once a market traditionally held mainly by physical car dealerships. For instance, WeBuyCars, which is owned by…

SOUTH African households and the corporate sector are expected to remain reluctant to take on more credit towards the end of the year as the cost of borrowing is still elevated due to stubbornly high interest rates and weak economic activity. Data from the SA Reserve Bank (SARB) on Friday showed that private sector credit extension (PSCE) only advanced by 4.38% year-on-year, compared with a 5.87% increase in July. This was below market forecasts of a 5% rise, and was the weakest PSCE data in more than a year. However, it marked the 26th straight month of growth in the private sector, although it was the lowest since February 2022. According to the SARB, the performance of the subcategories was mixed, but most of the drag came from the bills…

THE rail industry is looking to go full steam ahead with reforms steered by the National Logistics Crisis Committee (NLCC) and the implementation of the National Rail Policy (NRP) to course Transnet through its dark channels amid the resignation of top executives. Transnet over the weekend reshuffled its executive with the appointment of Michelle Phillips, chief executive of Transnet Pipelines, as acting group CEO and Hlengiwe Makhathini will act as group chief financial officer to replace Portia Derby and Nonkululeko Dlamini respectively. This comes barely a month after Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan asserted that Transnet would be tabling a turnaround strategy amid the industry's call for the resignation of the executive team by the Chambers of Commerce and the Minerals Council of South Africa. The head of communications at…

MINISTER of Electricity Dr Kgosien- tsho Ramokgopa has warned that partial load losses remain the most significant threat in Eskom’s battle against rotational power cuts, in spite of succeeding in suspending load shedding for two consecutive days. Partial load losses are when generation units run at below optimal levels usually as a result of a fault that requires the unit to be run at lower speed, or load, either because the fault results in the unit being unable to run at higher load, or because running the unit at full load with the fault could result in the unit breaking down. Ramokgopa yesterday said partial load losses were the main challenge that Eskom was facing now as it was making small gains in other spheres of generation capacity. “An area…

TWO MORE actively managed ex- change traded funds (AMETFs) listed on the JSE on Friday, adding a further set of globally recognised options to the bourse’s portfolio. This marks the first AMETF listings for both Sygnia Itrix alongside specialist global listed real estate investment manager Reitway Global. AMETFs are collective investment schemes that are traded on the market whereby the investment manager uses an actively managed investment strategy to produce a return for the investor rather than utilising a passive investment strategy. The AMETF from Sygnia is their first issuance of its kind in the market and will predominantly invest in global technology equity securities and assets in liquid form. A minimum of 5 000 000 securities will be listed by Sygnia with an issue price of R10…

ASCENDIS Health, the board of which is considering a JSE delisting, announced on Friday that for the first time since 2013, its balance sheet was unencumbered following the recapitalisation, debt restructuring and other corporate activities that were required. In its results for the year to June 30, the group said tangible net asset value amounted to 81 cents per share by year-end, which is well up from 62c at the same time a year before. A consortium led by Ascendis’s current CEO Carl Neethling has expressed interest in the delisting, but Ascendis last week warned shareholders that a large premium from the 69c share price at the time was unlikely in the event of an offer being made to shareholders prior to delisting. By year-end, the group was in…