Star 2025-03-18

A majority of South African financial analysts, business executives and representatives of the trade union movements are expecting the cost of living to remain contained within the 4.5% midpoint of between 3-6% target range this year. The Bureau for Economic Research (BER) said on Monday that expectations for South Africa’s headline consumer inflation in 2025 have been slightly adjusted from 4.5% to 4.3%. This revisitation comes even as annual inflation saw a minute uptick from 2.8% in October to 3.2% in January, indicating a level of cautious optimism against the backdrop of a lower reference rate. The recent Inflation Expectations Survey for the first quarter of 2025 was conducted among various stakeholders between 17 February and 6 March 2025 and the results were computed on 7 March 2025. BER’s senior…

Sun International, the South African gaming and hospitality group, reported a better-than-expected financial performance for the year ended December 31, driven by significant growth in its online gaming division, Sunbet. Sun International CEO Anthony Leeming said: “Our omnichannel approach has helped the group navigate the evolving gaming environment and with our significant growth in Sunbet we continue to see growth in our gaming revenue.” The results, released on Monday, reflect a resilient omnichannel portfolio amid a challenging macroeconomic environment. Adjusted headline earnings per share (Heps) rose 13.5% to 531 cents, up from the previous year, translating to adjusted headline earnings of R1.3 billion, a 13% increase. The board declared a final gross cash dividend of 237c per share, up 16.7% from 2023, bringing the total dividend for the year to…

Speculation over what Fihla will earn at Absa, but former CEO Rautenbach earned R37.55m Absa’s appointment of former Standard Bank deputy CEO Kenny Fihla as its new CEO on Monday, after he resigned suddenly from his former employer on Sunday night, would address a leadership vacuum at Absa and possibly improve market sentiment in Absa. Absa announced Fihla's appointment as CEO was effective from June 17, 2025, while its current interim CEO Charles Russon will stay on in that role until Fihla takes over and will work closely with the new CEO to ensure a smooth transition, after which Russon would take a key senior role within the group executive committee. “Standard Bank Group announces that after 18 years of service to the group, Kenny Fihla, the group’s deputy chief…

Aviation industry leaders on Monday said changes being rung by Transport Minister Barbara Creecy at the Air Traffic Navigation Systems (ATNS) were akin to booting the stable door after the horses had bolted. The changes brought about at the ATNS included the recruitment of ATNS' high level staff poached by international airports, upgrading of communication, navigation and surveillance (CNS) systems, maintenance of instrument, flight procedures, prioritising and improving governance processes for safety accountability. In a briefing on upgrades to the ATNS widely seen to have put South Africa's airspace on high risk, Creecy said all the recommendations were being implemented in various stages of completion. "Since the commencement of this investigation, a number of other urgent interventions have been identified as critical for ATNS’s continued operations and we are beginning…

Farming associations across South Africa are celebrating optimistic forecasts from the Crop Estimates Committee (CEC), projecting the nation’s harvest at a significant 17.2 million tonnes, marking an 11% increase from the previous season. This upward trend is stirring hope among farmers who endured challenging conditions last year. The anticipated commercial maize crop is forecasted at 13 911 150 tons, representing an increase of 8.26%, or 1 061 150 tons, compared to last season’s yield of 12 850 000 tons. In addition, the CEC revised its estimate for sunflower seed—a staple in South African agriculture—indicating that 555 700 hectares have been planted, which is 5.05% (or 26 700 hectares) more than the previous year. The sunflower seed production forecast stands at 720 050 tons, showcasing a robust growth of 13.93%, or…

South Africa’s major banks - Absa, FirstRand, Nedbank, and Standard Bank- posted a modest uptick in earnings for 2024 against a backdrop of formidable challenges, according to the latest PwC report released on Monday. Combined headline earnings climbed 5.9% from the 2023 financial year to R119 billion, a slowdown from the robust double-digit growth seen in prior years. For context, 2023 saw earnings soar 13.8% to R113.2bn. The return on equity (ROE) nudged down to 17.5% from 17.6% in FY23, while the credit loss ratio improved to 89 basis points (bps) from 102 bps, underscoring resilience amid choppy waters. However, the major banks’ combined headline earnings growth of 5.9% far surpassed South African and sub-Saharan economic growth. Underpinning earnings growth was the combination of resilient revenue growth across net interest…