Star 2025-03-17

Renergen’s share price rocketed 37.3% on the JSE on Friday after it said the long-awaited event of filling a container with liquid helium had taken place. The closing share price, however, was still below the R10.90 it traded at a year ago and well down from the R37.50 it traded at three years ago, before many shareholders appeared to become disaffected with the slow pace of development of South Africa’s first onshore liquid natural gas and helium production facility at Virginia, in the Free State, and the share price declined since then. The company drew significant retail shareholder interest when it first announced a big helium reserve on its site in October 2021, but there have been many delays in developing the gas exploitation and production facilities. On Friday, the…

OUTsurance Group’s Australian subsidiary, Youi, may face losses of $40 million (about R459m) arising from the still uncertain insurance outcomes of Cyclone Alfred making landfall on the Queensland coast on March 7. The main peril from this event is flooding, OUTsurance directors said on Friday at the release of results for the six months to December 31. The cyclone brought strong winds, heavy rainfall, and flooding, leading to widespread power outages, road closures, and property damage. Youi's reinsurance attachment point for its first two catastrophe events is $40m per event. “Estimating the loss from this event is currently highly uncertain, and it is expected a substantial portion of the loss will be covered by the Australian Reinsurance Pool Corporation (ARPC),” OUTsurance CEO Marthinus Visser said. “Should the net loss after…

In a recent Trade Conditions Survey released by the South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SACCI) on Thursday, evidence of improving trade conditions has emerged for February 2025. This marked the first significant signs of recovery since mid-2024, notably following the establishment of the Government of National Unity (GNU) in June 2024. SACCI detailed that, while 65% of respondents reported tight trade conditions in December 2024, and 60% experienced similar challenges in January, the figures have shifted positively in February. With only 54% still grappling with tough conditions, the survey suggests a reasonable easing has occurred, sparking optimism that the GNU's strategies aimed at enhancing economic performance are beginning to bear fruit. Despite this positive shift, the survey indicates a moderation in the outlook for the next six months.…

Should Agoa collapse, South African products face a 3% tariff to enter the US market South African agricultural organisations have urged lawmakers to pivot towards establishing a robust bilateral engagement with the United States amid fears of the country losing its African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa) benefits. This comes on the back of hardening political relations between South Africa and the Trump administration, which has culminated in the expulsion of South Africa’s Ambassador to the US, Ebrahim Rasool, on Friday. Agoa provides eligible sub-Saharan African countries with duty-free access to the US market for more than 1 800 products, in addition to the more than 5 000 products that are eligible for duty-free access under the Generalized System of Preferences program. Agriculture, particularly citrus and wine, manufacturing, mining, automobile…

Improving gross domestic product growth, interest rate cuts, and withdrawals from the two-pot savings system should support consumption and food sector volumes. The recovery in Food Producers’ margins and earnings will be aided by subdued commodity price inflation remains. However, food price inflation could start to increase in the first quarter of 2025 estimated (1Q25E), which would favour a shift towards food retailers, as they have historically re-rated in a rising food price inflation environment in anticipation of stronger relative earnings growth. Shoprite: Maintaining the pressure on competitors Shoprite’s RSA Supermarkets achieved 10.4% revenue growth without increasing promotional subsidies, despite a low inflationary period. This was done by leveraging its new loyalty partnerships and store growth. While like-for-like growth slowed to 5.4% in the first half of 2025 from 8%…

A customs tariff increase application on roasted groundnut imports classifiable under subheadings 2008.11.20 and 2008.11.90 from 0.99c/kg (0.033% ad valorem equivalent) to 20% was withdrawn by the South African Groundnuts Forum because they have closed their nut roasting business. The investigation was initiated on January 15, 2021 and lingered without a decision for 50 months (yes, seriously) with no decision. The application had been filed on February 24, 2020. It should take six months to complete an investigation. According to the International Trade Administration Commission (Itac), the applicant withdrew their application because “[of] a range of operational and other factors, including but not limited to the prolonged uncertainty surrounding the decision on the amendment of the customs duty. The applicant alleges that such uncertainty has affected the viability of their…