Star 2024-11-11

As the South African marketplace becomes increasingly cutthroat amid economic challenges, a concerning trend is emerging: companies are increasingly adopting unethical marketing practices to gain a competitive edge. Recent findings by the Advertising Regulatory Board (ARB), alongside court decisions, reveal a disconcerting rise in the imitation of established brands, along with a slew of misleading advertising tactics. ARB CEO Gail Schimmel told Business Report last week that the body was seeing a slight increase in complaints about imitation and exploitation of goodwill. This, she said, was partially due to more confidence in the board, but also a growing move towards unethical advertising in the marketplace. “There does seem to be an increase of this behaviour in the marketplace. The increase in the marketplace is partly due to an increase in…

The Foschini Group (TFG) saw markedly strengthened gross profits in the face of tough trading conditions in all territories in the six months to September 30 on the back of weak top-line growth. Things started to look up post the interim period. However, in the five weeks thereafter, TFG Africa sales growth was up 8.3% compared to 0.1% decline for the interim period, while both London and Australia businesses posted stronger growth. The share price gave up 2.53% to R143.15 on Friday after the release of the results – the price is nevertheless up 40.3% over a year. Echoing the weak top-line growth of peers such as Truworths, mainly due to lower consumer disposable incomes, TFG’s revenue increased by only 0.6% in TFG Africa in the six months, and was…

Compagnie Financière Richemont was one of the biggest downward movers on the JSE on Friday following the release of financial results that showed its interim profit had fallen a fifth. The share, a favourite among institutional investors, closed 5% lower at R2 417.94, making it one of the top five major declines on the JSE on Friday. The share is little changed from the R2 200.00 that it traded at on the JSE a year previously. Interim results for the Switzerland-based group, which is chaired by South African billionaire businessman Johann Rupert, showed that profit from continuing operations fell 20% to €1.73 billion (R32.6bn) from €2.16bn. Also, in a reflection of the tough markets worldwide where consumers have seen disposable incomes pared by high interest rates and inflation, low growth…

Previous Trump administration was perceived as antagonistic to free trade agreements As the dust of political uncertainty settles around Donald Trump reclaiming the White House after the US election, investors and foreign policy and international trade analysts have said that South Africa stands at a unique crossroads with opportunities and challenges under the forthcoming US administration. Trump ran his entire campaign on implementing aggressive tariffs on imports, deregulation, and promised corporate tax cuts as well as a transactional approach to international relations. Rashaad Tayob, macro strategist and portfolio manager at Foord, said on Friday that there were serious trade implications for South Africa under the Trump presidency. “With 10% of South African exports going to the US, new tariffs could affect trade under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa),”…

With the market having rallied strongly coming out of the South African elections, a lot of good news has now been discounted in share prices and valuations. Fresh in investors’ minds would be the experience from Ramaphoria where optimism faded as earnings and cash flows disappointed, with the market realising that an expected improvement in fundamentals did not materialise. With a focus on the industrial sector, we outline our thinking on which stocks are likely to start realising the benefits of the new dispensation earliest - as opposed to those whose upside is more long dated. We also look at which businesses are most geared to a stronger local economy, thus benefiting the most - though that upside may be long dated, requiring more patience. The early birds: Much like…

As the global community grapples with the escalating climate crisis, the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) has issued a stark warning at the opening of the UN Climate Conference COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan. IRENA’s latest report released on Friday, the World Energy Transitions Outlook 2024, outlines a significant CO2 emission gap that remains despite existing political commitments towards achieving net-zero emissions by mid-century. The report’s 1.5°C Scenario emphasises that even if all pledges made to date were fully implemented, substantial challenges necessitate drastic changes in energy transition strategies. Francesco La Camera, IRENA’s director-general, articulated the urgent stakes. “We have reached crunch time. A robust global finance deal and the next Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) in 2025 are ‘make or break’ moments to keep 1.5°C alive,” La Camera said. “NDCs 3.0…