Cape Times 2022-03-18

Siphelele Dludla siphelele.dludla@inl.co.za HIGH-earning South African consumers may cut spending on basic necessities this year as the war in Ukraine has pushed sentiment to a nine-month low and turned the economic outlook more bleak with rising prices. A survey released yesterday showed that the Consumer Confidence Index (CCI) plunged deeper into contractionary territory amid concerns about the economic consequences of the war in Ukraine. The survey by the Bureau for Economic Research, sponsored by FNB, revealed that the CCI fell to -13 index points in the first quarter from -9 points in the previous quarter. This was the lowest reading since the second quarter of 2021, when the social relief of distress grant was temporarily discontinued, the Delta variant surged and lockdown restrictions were drastically tightened. The latest reading also…

Banele Ginindza banele.ginindza@inl.co.za THE LIFTING of Comair's suspension, which led to its planes being grounded for four days while it sorted out safety issues, has been met with consternation among industry experts, who felt the South African Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA) has acted hastily. The director of civil aviation said yesterday evidence concluded on Tuesday paved the way for it to lift its suspension with immediate effect after operations were grounded over concerns including an East London incident that involved engine issues and suspect landing gear among others… “The impact of this outcome paves the way for the Director of Civil Aviation to (lift) the AOC (Air Operators’ Certificate) of Comair with immediate effect,” the regulator added. “After a thorough review of Com- air’s documentation, the SACAA has lifted the…

Philippa Larkin philippa.larkin@inl.co.za THE INDEPENDENT Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa) yesterday said it had raised 14.4 billion from the high-demand radio frequency spectrum auction, which would go to the national fiscus. The auction, which ended yesterday, involved six qualified bidders: Cell C, Liquid Intelligent Technologies, MTN, Rain Networks, Telkom and Vodacom. Icasa confirmed in a statement yesterday that there was one unsold spectrum lot of 2x10MHz in the IMT800 Band, which would still be licensed by the authority in future. Mobile giant Vodacom paid R5.4bn, MTN secured the high-demand radio for R5.15bn, Telkom paid R2.1bn, while mobile operator Rain paid R1.4bn. Cell C forked out R288.2 million, with Liquid Telecom paying R111m. Icasa chairperson Dr Keabetswe Modi- moeng said: “This was our inaugural radio frequency spectrum auction,…

AS THE SAGA continues in the Black Sea due to the Russian-Ukrainian war, the international agricultural market waters get murkier by the day. There can be no doubt that the invasion of Ukraine by Russia has disrupted markets, specifically agriculture and food markets, beyond their respective borders, and the effects are reverberating globally, and South Africa has not been spared the blushes. Furthermore, the negative effects of this war will continue in short-to-medium-term exerting upward pressure on the price of grains and agricultural production inputs. This invasion could not have come at a worst time for the African fertiliser markets. Covid-19 has had a direct and negative impact on the value chain of the African fertilisers market. The recent lockdown in different countries of the region has affected the transportation…

Edward West edward.west@inl.co.za METAIR Investments, the international motor component group, lifted headline earnings a share by 139 percent to 354 cents a share in the year to December 31, its best ever results, boosted by a strong recovery in its energy storage businesses. Chief financial officer Sjoerd Douwenga said the results were achieved despite the low base of the Covid pandemic impact results in 2020, and it had indicated the stability of the energy storage business despite a very challenging environment. Chief executive Riaz Haffejee said, however, they continued to trade in a challenging trading environment, including the supply chain challenges and semiconductor shortages, both of which were now compounded by the Russia-Ukraine conflict. He said they sell a small volume of batteries to the after-part market and…

Edward West edward.west@inl.co.za AFRICAN Rainbow Capital Investments (ARC), which has investments in tech disruptors such as mobile data company Rain, and TymeBank, lifted intrinsic net asset value 16.6 percent in the six months to December 31 to R8.85 a share. As an indication of the improved position, at the same time a year before, the intrinsic net asset value of billionaire Patrice Motsepe’s main investment vehicle had fallen 7.6 percent. The share price surged 6.37 percent to R6.18 yesterday morning. The price indicates the share is trading at about a 30 percent discount to the company’s valuation of its investments – the discount is much less than previous years though. Cash in hand nearly doubled to R538 million. Debt in the fund increased by 8.6…