Star 2024-01-24

WOOLWORTHS Holdings’ sales im- proved in the past few months of a 26 week trading period to December 24, following weak sales in Australia through most of the period and trading in South Africa that was impacted by load shedding. Stronger festive season spending by consumers was also reflected yesterday in data from BankservAfrica, which showed that the total in-store card spend for December was R112.5 billion, up 13% from the R100bn the previous year. Total shopping volumes increased 2% year-on-year, the BankServAfrica data showed. The highest spend and volumes were at grocery stores and supermarkets, which nearly doubled in value to R50bn from R26bn, with card transactions increasing 6%. Woolworths interim headline earnings a share were expected to be more than 25% to 35% lower than the same…

Electricity minister will be leading the government negotiations with European investors MINISTER of Electricity Kgosien- tsho Ramokgopa will be leading the government negotiations with European investors seeking to finance the required expansion of South Africa’s transmission network in a bid to plug the electricity deficit. Ramokgopa yesterday said the on- boarding of new generating capacity, particularly renewable energy, was criti- cal to ensuring that additional capa- city was added to the national grid as generation capacity was constrained. He said that Team SA had established a rapport with private sector investors at the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meetings in Davos last week, and those negotiations would now be taken forward. “As the president said last week, the Minister in the Presidency responsible for electricity is now given the responsibility…

STRONG sales were reflected over the traditionally busy December shopping season as the month’s public holidays helped to bring the holiday excitement and festive cheer closer. Solly Bellingan, the head of marketing at BankservAfrica, said: “According to BankservAfrica’s data, the total in-store card spend for December amounted to R112.5 billion, representing a 13% growth on the R100bn recorded in the previous year. The total shopping volumes increased by 2% year-on-year to 145 million.” The highest spend and volumes were shown at grocery stores and supermarkets, which almost doubled in value at R50bn with 47 million card transactions (compared to R26bn in December 2022) and volumes growing by 6% year-on-year from the 45 million in December 2022, indicating the average spend per purchase increased from R580 to…

BMW SOUTH Africa, one of the largest foreign investors and employers, has remained buoyant about the country’s economic prospects in spite of ongoing energy and logistics challenges. This comes as Transnet continues to battle to clear the backlog since November 2023 at the Port of Durban as a result of bad weather conditions, inadequate equipment and machinery. The BMW Group last year invested R4.2 billion in the electrification of the Rosslyn plant in Pretoria to manufacture the next-generation plug-in hybrid BMW X3 for global export. Speaking to Business Report yesterday, BMW South Africa’s manager for government and external affairs Mbasa Kepe said although they had not released production figures for the fourth quarter, congestion at the Port of Durban had been destructive to their operations. Kepe said that they…

FIVE LARGE emerging markets (EMs) need to sustain significant medium-term primary fiscal surpluses to stabilise the debt-to-GDP ratio – Brazil, Egypt, South Africa, Colombia, and Mexico, Oxford Economics said in a note yesterday. Most had scope to tackle ongoing fiscal challenges, but policies need to be stiffened, the note said. “Our comprehensive survey of our country economists covering 21 large EMs reveals fiscal risks are partially mitigated because those with the most urgent need for fiscal cuts also tend to be the ones with greater scope and the ability to implement them. Of the five with sustainability issues, only Brazil and Mexico have major obstacles to consolidation in 2024, in the form of elections.” Oxford Economics said most EMs had budgeted fiscal consolidation in 2024; but of these consolidators, outcomes…

AFTER my third trip to the World Economic Forum (WEF), I remain convinced that there is nothing like it. Presidents, global business leaders, innovators and more are all brought together in snowy Davos to engage, resulting in fascinating conversations that can shape the global economy. This year focused on AI+, Climate, and Africa. There is simply no denying that the future revolves around the topics, and here is why: Artificial Intelligence As Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, rightly said, GPTs have paved the way for the mass adoption of AI. ChatGPT has become a common tool and many others have started building their own GPTs or interacting with AI in various forms. Bill Gates framed AI as the tool with the potential to impact every household and to create…