Cape Times 2022-02-09

Banele Ginindza banele.ginindza@inl.co.za THE POULTRY industry is ruffled at the granting of bail to three suspects arrested a week ago for fraud, corruption and contravention of the Customs and Excise Act by illegally importing 30 tons of chicken. However, the sector has hailed these first anti-dumping arrests as a boost for the Poultry Master Plan which aims to grow and protect the local sector. Suspects Nicolas and Nelita Correira were granted R50 000 bail while George Buco was given R20 000 bail. An additional charge of corruption relates to an offer of a R800 000 bribe the suspects made to the police after another consignment of four shipping containers of the illegally imported poultry meat products was uncovered. Illegal dumping of poultry is a major stumbling…

Siphelele Dludla siphelele.dludla@inl.co.za SOUTH African stocks rose the highest in two weeks yesterday, buoyed by gains in mining stocks amid higher commodity prices. The JSE All Share Index broke above the 76 000 points mark early yesterday, the first time since January 20, advancing 0.76 percent to 76 234 index points by lunchtime. The index later closed up 0.54 percent at 76 090.52 points The resources index lifted 1.76 percent to 78 277 points in intraday trade, while the precious metals and mining index was 1.78 percent higher to 58 848 points. Mining and metals company South32 closed the day 4.59 percent higher at R49.21 per share, AngloGold Ashanti was 3.49 percent higher to R304.14 per share, while Sibanye-Stillwater…

Siphelele Dludla siphelele.dludla@inl.co.za OUTGOING chief executive of the Land Bank Ayanda Kanana has vowed that the embattled financial institution will plug the holes that led to a qualified audit outcome this past year. Addressing the parliamentary standing committee on finance yesterday, Kanana said the Land Bank had been let down by one of its intermediaries that did not submit financial statements, resulting in a scope limitation. In December, the Land Bank received a qualified audit outcome from the Auditor-General (A-G) for the year ended March 31, 2021. Kanana said the qualified outcome was an “improvement” from a disclaimer the bank had received the previous year. “The qualification that we’ve got, sadly, is not a representation of where we should be. We should be sitting at an unqualified audit opinion with…

Edward West edward.west@inl.co.za GROWTHPOINT Properties, the JSE’s biggest primary listed real estate investment trust, said yesterday that it had signed 17 new deals for office space in Cape Town, signalling an increase in leasing activity, a willingness from new clients to commit to office space and possibly the beginning of a shift in office market sentiment. “The surge of new office letting activity during the final two weeks of January was a welcome start to the year. The 17 new deals represent some 8 500 square metres of office space, with an average size of around 500 square metres. The lease lengths also demonstrated a commitment to these offices, with a few of the leases signed exceeding seven-year terms,” Growthpoint regional asset manager for the Western Cape Timothy…

Edward West edward.west@inl.co.za STANDARD Bank’s participation in the funding of the $5 billion (R77.4bn) East Africa Crude Oil Pipeline (Eacop) project would depend on environmental and social assessments and on the project meeting the Equator Principles requirements, the bank said yesterday. Its participation was also subject to a “full assessment of the Eacop sponsors’ climate change strategies and targets”, the bank said in response to Business Report questions yesterday. Four out of five of South Africa’s biggest lenders have said they will not participate in the project, bringing to 15 in total the number of financial institutions that will not support the project. Last week, after years of delay, France’s Total and China’s Cnooc signed the Final Investment Decision to proceed with the project, but all of the required…

Dieketseng Maleke dieketseng.maleke@inl.co.za PETROCHEMICAL company Sasol yesterday flagged that it was set to deliver a mixed set of results for the six months ended December 31, 2021, with its headline earnings dented 26 percent as operational challenges knocked its performance and despite improved Brent crude oil prices. Headline earnings per share were likely to be between R14.25 and R16.17, a decrease of between 16 and 26 percent from the prior comparative reporting period. Earnings per share were expected to be between R22.81 and R25.15, representing a change of between 3 and 7 percent. But the improved Brent crude oil price, refining margins and chemical prices had resulted in a notable gross margin improvement from the prior half-year, combined with strong cost and capital expenditure performance. “These benefits…