Latest forecasts show a marked deterioration in the inflation outlook, particularly in the short term, South African Reserve Bank (SARB) Governor Tito Mboweni cautioned on Thursday. He was speaking after the SARB’s monetary policy committee announced it had decided to raise the repo rate by 50 basis points to 7,5%.
The South African Trade Activity Index declined to 52 in April from 56 in March, reflecting a pull-back in trade conditions which was attributed to the number of trading days lost in April because of public holidays. However, the figure is still higher than the 50 recorded in February, the 47 recorded in January and December’s figure of 49.
Telkom has made a firm offer of R9 per share for leading IT services provider Business Connexion (BCX). The Internet Service Providers’ Association of South Africa has already stated that it intends to lodge an objection with the Competition Commission if Telkom attempts to purchase a controlling stake in BCX.
Standard Bank on Thursday reported a 23% increase in headline earnings per share for the year to the end of December 2005. Headline earnings increased from 570,3 cents to 702,3 cents per share, which was much better than the I-Net Bridge consensus forecast of headline earnings per share of 666,5 cents.
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/ 23 February 2006
South African health insurer Discovery says it has adopted "rigorous" measures to reverse the losses by its United States operation Destiny Health and is "cautiously optimistic’ about a turnaround in the medium term. Discovery CEO Adrian Gore said on Thursday that a "rigorous, disciplined approach" to the measurement and evaluation of Destiny’s progress was being applied on a quarterly basis.
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/ 20 January 2006
Supporters of activist groups Khulumani and Jubilee South Africa are planning demonstrations in a last-ditch effort to get Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development Bridgette Mabandla to withdraw an opposing affidavit in an apartheid-reparations appeal case due to be heard in the United States next week.
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/ 19 December 2005
It would take a lot to top the events of 2005 in South Africa’s banking sector. But indications are that 2006 could prove to be just as exciting. Speculation is still rife that a second international bank could be looking to take out one of South Africa’s "big four" banks.
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/ 29 November 2005
The gold price broke through the key psychological ceiling of $500 an ounce on Tuesday to a fresh 18-year high, as platinum prices rose above $1 000 for the first time in more than a quarter of a century in a broad metals rally. Gold touched $505,40/oz in Asia — a level last seen in December 1987.
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/ 16 November 2005
Reflecting a return to positive bottom-line profitability, IT group Dimension Data plc (Didata) on Wednesday reported basic earnings per share of 1,3 United States cents for the year to the end of September after a loss of 2,8 US cents the previous year. However, adjusted earnings per share amounted to 1,4 US cents compared with 0,9 US cents previously.
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/ 3 November 2005
Old Mutual CEO Jim Sutcliffe made it clear on Thursday that the South African financial-services giant has no intention of backing down from its takeover bid for Swedish insurer Skandia, saying the logic for the acquisition remains compelling. He said the deal would give the combined group a strong foothold in four major markets.