Cape Times 2022-02-15

Banele Ginindza banele.ginindza@inl.co.za THE South African National Taxi Council (Santaco) has not been derailed from its aspirations in the aviation sector by the recent rebuff from Mango Airlines business rescue practitioners (BRPs) and is actually looking at its options after consultations with its constituency, officials confirmed yesterday. The organisation said it had initiated plans to enter the sector from as early as 2011, but was derailed by the downturn in the global economy and had taken on the Mango initiative as part of a broader strategy. “A number of issues compelled us to take a step back even then. At that time we had not even dreamt that Mango would be up for sale, so the sale of Mango had presented us with an opportunity to remodel our entry into…

Edward West edward.west@inl.co.za INTERNATIONAL homeware group Steinhoff International’s share price plunged 12.22 percent on the JSE yesterday afternoon, after the retailer had taken to the UK courts to sue some of former chief executive Marcus Jooste’s co-conspirators. The price of the still heavily indebted group, however, is still well up from only R2.74 a year ago, in stark contrast to its listed peers internationally, with for instance, Wayfair in the US down 47.50 percent over a year, Hanssem from Korea down 34.6 percent and Basset Furniture Industries down 23 percent over 12 months. Wayfair said in its last quarterly figures that as various geographies reopened post-pandemic, consumers have shifted some spend towards travel and entertainment and from e-commerce towards brick and mortar. Tile group Italtile last week said the surge…

Siphelele Dludla siphelele.dludla@inl.co.za FINANCE Minister Enoch Godongwana faces mounting pressure to introduce a universal basic income grant (BIG) and drop austerity measures amid crippling poverty and rising unemployment levels in South Africa. A group of about 70 members of the Assembly of the Unemployed (AoU) yesterday staged a sit-in at the National Treasury, calling for the implementation of a BIG and protesting against budget cuts. The AoU and other civil society movements have long campaigned for the implementation of a BIG of R1 500 a month for all unemployed between the ages of 18 and 59. AoU spokesperson Princess Majola said the grant should also include caregivers, home-based workers, and workers who earned below the national minimum wage. “This will bring much-needed relief to millions of South Africans who are…

Siphelele Dludla siphelele.dludla@inl.co.za OIL and commodity prices edged higher yesterday, as a wave of risk aversion gripped financial markets amid geopolitical tensions concerning Ukraine and Russia. The price of Brent rose to near eight-year highs, hitting $96.16 (R1 454.56) per barrel yesterday morning, as the Russian/Ukraine geopolitical tensions caused increased supply concerns. However, the Brent crude price eased later in the day, trading at $93.78 per barrel, when the JSE closed by 5pm. The US has warned that Russia could invade Ukraine as early as Wednesday, and has evacuated all its diplomats and warned its citizens to leave the country. These warnings drove a significant risk-off move by investors and flight to safe-haven assets, as fears of a Russian invasion of Ukraine grew imminent. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has flown…

Edward West edward.west@inl.co.za IRONGATE Group (IAP), the Australian property group that is also listed on the JSE, has agreed with the Charter Hall partnership to share information for a due diligence that might pave the way for IAP’s acquisition. IAP’s board has rejected three offers from Australian investment firm 360 Capital over the past year, and the offer from the Charter partnership is the first time since the IAP’s board have agreed to let the bidding party do a due diligence. IAP was formerly known as Investec Australia Property Fund. The Charter Hall partnership comprises Dutch pension fund PGGM and Charter Hall, and they have offered to acquire all of IAP’s shares for AU$1.90 cash each. The AU$1.90 represents an implied price per IAP security of R20.61, based on the…

Corrie Kruger THE JSE was formed in 1887 during the first South African gold rush. Following the first legislation covering financial markets in 1947, the JSE joined the World Federation of Exchanges in 1963 and upgraded to an electronic trading system in the early 1990s. The bourse demutualised and listed on its own exchange in 2005. In 2003, an alternative exchange, AltX, for small and mid-sized listings was formed, followed by Yield X for interest rate and currency instruments. The JSE then acquired the South African Futures Exchange (Safex) in 2001, and the Bond Exchange of South Africa (Besa) in 2009. They now consist of five financial markets namely equities and bonds as well as financial, commodity and interest rate derivatives. The number of companies listed on the JSE is…