Star 2024-01-31

Group would be profitable through a results-orientated no-nonsense approach TRANSACTION Capital, after last year’s dismal financial performance, is exploring the listing of its fast growing used vehicle business WeBuyCars, as part of a broader restructuring to bring the group back into profitability. “The board has in principle resolved to pursue the unbundling…the construct of the unbundling is yet to be finalised,” the group said yesterday evening in a JSE announcement. Newly-appointed CEO Jonathan Jawno wrote in the annual report yesterday that the group would be driven back to profitability through an entrepreneurial, results-orientated, no-nonsense approach with complexities being simplified, business fundamentals brought back into focus, and a back-to-basics ethos. The group is facing significant change and reviews of its businesses. Acquisitive growth had been halted in favour of “fortifying the…

BUSINESS Unity South Africa (Busa) has appointed former Exxaro Resources CEO Mxolisi Mgojo as its new president, months after Bonang Mohale stepped down in August 2023. Following Mohale’s stepping down a year before the expiry of his term of office, the Busa board appointed the deputy president, Adrian Gore, to act as president and tasked him with leading the process leading to the appointment of the new president. Busa CEO Cas Coovadia yesterday welcomed Mgojo and said they were looking forward to his leadership and guidance. Coovadia said Mgojo would serve as president until August 2024, but will be eligible to be reappointed for a further period of three years. “Mxolisi has played, and continues to play, a critical role in organised business and his experience, insights, and integrity will…

SOUTH Africa’s attractiveness for private business has improved in the past year, although corruption is worsening while access to capital has remained a drawback, in addition to logistics and energy bottlenecks, notes PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) in a new report. Despite recording a reduction in foreign direct investment inflows from R26 billion in the third quarter to September 2023 compared with R53.8bn in the second quarter, South Africa is outperforming other peers in the Europe, Middle East and Africa region (Emea). According to the Emea Private Business Attractiveness Index released by PwC yesterday, South Africa ranks 23rd out of 33 countries surveyed, an improvement from 2021 and 2022 when the country was ranked 31st and 25th, respectively, under the same index. “Within the Emea region, South Africa is being looked at…

PEPKOR, the owner of household brands PEP, Ackermans, Tekkie Town, among others, said in a trading update for the three months ended December 31, 2023, that it managed to grow its market share and revenue delivering healthy sales. Its group merchandise sales increased by 5.5% and like-for-like sales increased by 4.1% for the quarter. Group revenue from continuing operations for the quarter increased by 7.2% to R26 billion. “The group’s discount and value brands continue to resonate with customers, delivering healthy sales growth from a solid base in the comparable quarter last year,” it said. Based on the latest RLC data to December 2023, the retailers said it had expanded overall market share in each month during the quarter and also on a three, six and 12-month rolling basis.…

THE INTERNATIONAL Monetary Fund (IMF) has urged South Africa to stay on its fiscal consolidation path and continue implementing structural reforms as it downgraded the country’s economic outlook for this year. In its World Economic Outlook (WEO) yesterday, the IMF slashed South Africa’s gross domestic product (GDP) forecast to 1% in 2024, signifi- cantly down from 1.8% previously forecast in October 2023. The IMF’s GDP forecast for 2024 is lower than the 1.2% expected by the SA Reserve Bank in its first forecast for the year issued last week, though they both forecast 0.6% in 2023. IMF chief economist Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas said South Africa’s persistent energy and logistics crises were going to significantly stifle economic growth this year. “All of the disruptions we’ve seen in the energy sector and also…

NELSON Mandela Bay (the Bay/the Metro) is a convergence point for an array of biomes, weather systems, river courses and ecological characteristics and peoples, that has created a unique and globally significant biodiversity hot spot. Preserving these qualities will be essential in adapting to the changes which human activity has driven in the climate and planetary ecosystems, and to secure the diverse heritage of the human, terrestrial and marine environment of the bay. The bay’s expected climatic changes include hotter temperatures, less rainfall, sea-level rise and tidal surges, more wind, and more frequent extreme weather events. These will lead to increased flooding, longer droughts, and increased likelihood of heat-related illnesses. Indeed, local authorities have a major influence on climate change adaptation, yet their actions are strongly determined by the national…