Cape Times 2021-07-08

Siphelele Dludla siphelele.dludla@inl.co.za SOUTH Africa’s liquidity position remained stable in June as the country’s gross reserves increased marginally, though gold reserves slipped. The SA Reserve Bank (SARB) said yesterday that the country’s gross reserves ticked up 0.6 percent to $54.47 billion (about R778bn) in June, from $51.14bn in May. SARB said the gross reserves were boosted by a rise in foreign exchange reserves from $43.88bn to $44.82bn due to proceeds received from foreign borrowings from the New Development Bank. In mid-June, the government received its $1bn economic recovery loan from the New Development Bank to support economic growth through employment generation. At the same time, the forward position declined due to foreign exchange swops conducted for sterilisation and liquidity management purposes. Investec economist Kamilla Kaplan said South Africa’s…

Sandile Mchunu sandile.mchunu@inl.co.za STEINHOFF International rose more than 21 percent on the JSE yesterday after the troubled retailer said it had been informed by the Amsterdam Court of Appeal that Hamilton had withdrawn its appeal. Steinhoff said as announced previously, Hamilton lodged an appeal against last month’s ruling of the Amsterdam District Court which dismissed its counter-requests for alternative measures related to the Dutch suspension of payments (SoP) claim review and voting process. Steinhoff said it was informed by the Amsterdam Court of Appeal that this appeal was withdrawn at the request of Hamilton. “Hamilton’s withdrawal followed the Court of Appeal’s rejection, on June 29, 2021, of Hamilton’s appeal against the court’s May 28, 2021 decision to inter alia establish a committee of representation,” the group said. The withdrawal…

Dineo Faku dineo.faku@inl.co.za THE DEPARMENT of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) said yesterday that it planned to collapse existing state-owned entities in the oil and gas sector into a new national oil company that would become a key player in the entire value chain. The department said the entity, to be called the South African National Petroleum Company, would be formed from the merger of Central Energy Fund (CEF) subsidiaries PetroSA, IGas and the Strategic Fuel Fund (SFF) into the single entity. Ntokozo Ngcwabe, DMRE deputy director-general: mineral policy and promotions, said the new company would ensure that South Africa played in the petroleum space and maximised value of its own resource potential. Ngcwabe said the department wanted the company to play in the upstream space. “In the upstream space…

INVESTMENT in agricultural research and development (R&D) enables firms within the sector to improve productivity and competitiveness and subsequently boosts the entire economy. Spending on South Africa’s agricultural R&D has deteriorated over the past two decades due to low budget allo- cation to State institutions such as the Agricultural Research Council (ARC). Dwindling government investment in agricultural R&D has seen a steady increase in privately funded research, where private firms try to keep up with the latest technology innovations and modernised operations. However, the risk of privately funded R&D leads to limited access to research outputs and innovations due to private property rights. In the absence of effective state-funded research activities, privately driven R&D can perpetuate inequalities between large and small farmers in the sector, particularly previously disadvantaged farmers who…

Sandile Mchunu sandile.mchunu@inl.co.za SCHRODER European Real Estate Investment Trust (Reit) said yesterday that it had reinstated its quarterly divi- dend to its pre-Covid-19 levels due to an improving outlook, valuation resilience and a return to healthy rent collection during the six months to end March. The group declared a quarterly divi- dend of 1.85 euro cents (R0.31) a share, with rent collection remaining strong at approximately 92 percent for the six months to end March and to 94 percent for the quarter to end March compared to 89 percent in the quarter to end December. Schroder also declared an interim dividend of 3.42 euro cents and said it planned to declare two more special dividends of 4.75 euro cents in the next 12 months. Schroder chairperson Sir Julian…

Banele Ginindza banele.ginindza@inl.co.za THE PROPERTY market is showing signs of slowing down after a slight uptick in the second half of last year, but is still above pre-pandemic levels, as consumers favour work-from-home options. According to First National Bank’s (FNB) property barometer released yesterday, while demand is moderating, it is still above pre-pandemic levels, helped along by lower interest rates. “Current activity also reflects pan- demic-induced shifts in consumer behaviour: with the greater adoption of work-from-home and homeschooling, households had to re-evaluate their housing needs, which leant in favour of home ownership,” the report said. According to analysts, the option to work from home has motivated homeowners in suburban areas to consider their holiday homes or places of origin off the coastline as a better alternative to the city, which…