FRIDAY, 2.00PM:
THE National Association of Maize Millers and some agricultural analysts believe the agricultural free market is threatened by mistrust of the National Crop Estimates Committee.
The figures issued by the committee directly affect forward prices for agricultural products. Critics believe it to be wrong for parties from the commodity trading community to be represented on the committee, as they have an interest in the prices set by the committee.
The National Agricultural Marketing Council, however, says every member’s data is regionally based and eventual forecasts are based on pooling information from different regions. It says it has a lock-in at its meetings and forecasts are made public as swiftly as possible to prevent insider trading.
A number of grain silos located on Spoornet land and formerly leased by the now-defunct Maize Board will be leased to grain co-operatives, according to a decision by Agriculture Minister Derek Hanekom.
BUSINESS BRIEFS
NUMSA WAGE TALKS END IN STALEMATE
WAGE Negotiations between the National Union of Metalworkers of SA and Eskom ended in a stalemate on Thursday after Eskom rejected demands by Numsa for a 16% increase for lower grades and a 13% increase for higher grades. Eskom offered increases of five percent for lower grades and six to eight percent for higher grades.
PETROL UP AGAIN
THE Department of Minerals and Energy has announced a 6c increase in the price of petrol effective Wednesday June 2. The cost of diesel will rise 5c and paraffin 6c. The increases are due to international increases in the price of oil and the weakness of the rand against the dollar.
DR SOLOMON’S BEATS BSS
SOFTWARE company BSS has been ordered by the Witwatersrand High Court to hand over a customer database it compiled for the international anti-virus software company Dr Solomon’s. The order also forces BSS to desist from unlawfully competing with Dr Solomon’s by conducting business with customers on the list. Dr Solomon’s brought the case after cancelling its distribution contract with BSS, which then refused to hand over the client list for the software.
LABOUR REJECTS ALEXKOR CONSULTANT
THE National Union of Mineworkers and the United Association of South Africa have responded with concern to the appointment of Hatch Africa as technical adviser in the restructuring of Alexkor, the Northern Cape state-owned diamond mine. The unions say Hatch has little experience of alluvial mining compared with other tenderers.
CAPITAL ALLIANCE EARNINGS UP
FINANCIAL services group Capital Alliance’s headline earnings grew 102% to R172,398-million for the year to March 31. Earnings per share increased to 137,4c. The group’s imminent unbundling and its uncertainty about capital requirements has postponed a dividend decision however — it is in negotiations with Unibank, Hosken Consolidated Investments and Super Group. Capital Alliance Life improved earnings by 40% and Capital Alliance Bank by 44%.
LIQUIDATIONS HIT FOUR-YEAR HIGH
MONTHLY liquidation figures hit 320 in March, the highest since the 1994 election, the Central Statistical Service announced on Thursday, saying the figure has increased each month from December 1997’s 160 a month. Insolvencies of individuals and partnerships have dropped 16,5% from the last quarter of last year to the first quarter of this year.
N3 FAVOURITES NAMED
THE South African National Roads Agency has announced that the N3 Toll Road Consortium and the Mafube Consortium are the preferred bidders for a R3-billion contract for upgrading the N3 highway between Heidelberg and Cedara.
COMAIR WILL LIST ON JSE
COMAIR will become the first South African airline to list on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange in July, the company announced on Thursday. Its projected market capitalisation will be in excess of R1-billion — the funds will be used for fleet replacement and other expenses. The listing is the result of a shareholders’ agreement with Gensec NSA Equity Fund, which stipulated listing after Comair had hit a certain level of profit, which it has already exceeded by 40%. Comair has an alliance with British Airways which serves it in keeping abreast of airline technology.
MINING FIGURES DOWN
TOTAL mining production for the three months to February dropped 2,3% compared to the previous three months, according to the Central Statistical Service. Platinum and coal reported the biggest drops. The overall drop was mainly due to a decline in non-gold production.
MOODY’S GIVES SA A BB
INTERNATIONAL rating agency Fitch IBCA has removed South Africa’s long-term foreign currency rating from “rating alert positive” and returned it to BB, still below investment grade. SA’s short-term foreign currency B rating was affirmed. Of the major international rating agencies, only Moody’s has granted South Africa an investment grade rating of Baa3. The rating applies to government’s unsecured long-term debt. Fitch said the Reserve Bank’s accumulation of major uncovered forward liabilities in defending the rand at different times is a risk to market confidence, as they greatly exceed actual foreign reserves. The other major problem is that 65% of SA’s external debt is short term, precisely the circumstances that led Asia into trouble.