THURSDAY, 1.30PM SHIPPING, hotel, gaming and travel group Safren has raised attributable profit 21% to R547,7-million in the year to June 30, the company has announced. It said the performance was mainly derived from a buoyant Safmarine, its mainstay division. Safren chairman Buddy Hawton said Safmarine increased earnings by 39% to R238-million, seeing good performances […]

WEDNESDAY, 3.00AM FORMER Civil Co-operation Bureau operative and convicted murderer Ferdi Barnard, 39, will go on trial in the Pretoria High Court on February 2 next year on 24 charges including murder, attempted murder, fraud, theft and illegal possession of firearms and ammunition. The Pretoria High Court set Barnard’s trial date on Wednesday. He has […]

WEDNESDAY, 12.15PM: NATIONAL soccer coach Clive Barker will meet the South African Football Association executive on Wednesday to convince them he is worth the R100 000-a-month to take Bafana Bafana to the World Cup Finals in France next June. Safa is silent on the issue but the feeling is that Barker will be asked to […]

WEDNESDAY, 12.00NOON TELKOM and its strategic partner Telekom Malaysia are planning to expand operations into African countries where telecom privatisations are under way and major opportunities are opening up. Telkom international business unit head Alan Hooper said the two parties are investigating opportunities in a number of African countries, including the Democratic Republic of Congo, […]

WEDNESDAY, 11.30AM RETAIL group Wooltru has bought the ailing retail chain of CNA in a deal valued at about R500-million. The acquisition will be funded by the issue of Wooltru shares. Wooltru executive chairman Colin Hall says that the buyout will not enhance Wooltru earnings over the next couple of years, and that investments will […]

WEDNESDAY, 11.00AM The gold index fell 23,6 points, or 2,45% on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) on Tuesday, to a two-month low of 937,9, tumbling as bullion fixed $1,30 lower at $321. The fall pulled down the JSE all share index 33,7 points, to a three-month low of 7145,8, allied with continued futures-based selling in […]

WEDNESDAY, 12.15PM: ORLANDO Pirates Zimbabwean coach Ronald Mkhandawire left on Tuesday with a 15-man squad for the first leg of their third match against Raja Casablanca of Morocco this Sunday. Their mission to win against Casablanca changed for the better on Tuesday night when midfielder Dumisa Ngobe was cleared to play. It was earleir reported […]

WEDNESDAY, 1.00PM ON another front in its war to preserve its telecommunications monopoly over the next five years, Telkom says that it stands to lose billions of rand if the South African Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (Satra) rules against it and allows Internet service providers to offer more than value-added services. The telecom is also fighting […]

PRESIDENT Nelson Mandela came under fire at the start of the Congress of SA Trade Unions congress yesterday.

WEDNESDAY, 4.00PM DEMOCRATIC Republic of Congo President Laurent Kabila has deployed troops in Goma in the northeast of the former Zaire to smother seething unrest which threatens to spill over into open conflict. Clashes between Kabila’s army and the well-armed Tutsis who helped it topple the dictatorship of Mobutu Sese Seko last May are costing […]