Cape Times 2022-01-20

Edward West edward.west@inl.co.za CAPITEC Bank Holdings’ share price slipped by up to 3.4 percent yesterday after it announced a R1 billion employee share scheme, the price of which could shave more than 10 percent off its next diluted headline earnings figure. The parent of South Africa’s biggest bank in terms of customer numbers plans to issue shares worth R1bn to 10 000 of its employees to improve its B-BBEE ownership status, the bank said in a statement. However, the market did not appear to react favourably. Capitec’s share price traded lower at R2 030.86 early yesterday afternoon – its market capitalisation of R243.16bn makes it the second biggest of the major South African banks in terms of market capitalisation. The share price later in the…

Siphelele Dludla siphelele.dludla@inl.co.za THE SOUTH African Reserve Bank (SARB) could possibly hike interest rates by a whole percent this year in a bid to curb the runaway inflation that saw the cost of living in 2021 rising higher than it has since 2017. Inflation in South Africa accelerated to a near five-year high in December 2021, mainly pushed up by shockingly high fuel prices, as well as the cost of food and non-alcoholic beverages. Data from Statistics South Africa (StatsSA) yesterday showed that the consumer price index rose further to 5.9 percent in December, from 5.5 percent in November. This was the steepest inflation rate since March 2017, pushing headline inflation uncomfortably close to the top end of the SARB’s inflation range of 3 to 6 percent…

SOUTH African-American businessman Patrick Soon-Shiong opened a new vaccine plant in Cape Town yesterday, intended to help his local NantSA company make Covid-19 shots in future and address the continent’s lack of manufacturing capacity. “Africa should no longer be last in line to access vaccines against pandemics. Africa should no longer go cap in hand to the Western world, begging and begging for vaccines,” said President Cyril Ramaphosa, who attended the opening. Soon-Shiong, who is also a medical doctor, will transfer technology and materials for RNA, adjuvant vaccine platforms and cell therapy from his California-based NantWorks to scientists in South Africa, where they will also work on vaccines targeting cancer, TB and HIV. “We have the capability to use the human capital of South Africans to build 21st century medicine,”…

Banele Ginindza banele.ginindza@inl.co.za The INDEPENDENT Regulatory Board for Auditors (IRBA) said that it had independently conducted investigations and taken disciplinary action on the misdemeanours of two SAA IRBA members before the release of the first part of the Zondo Commission report on state capture. In a statement yesterday, the IRBA said all SAA matters were fully investigated during the 2017 to 2019 years, and findings of its probes had been through all the appropriate committee structures within the organisation. “On audit-related matters, the individual joint auditors were found guilty on five charges. Both respondents accepted monetary sanctions determined by the IRBA. “On non-audit related complaints, one of the respondents opted not to accept the monetary sanction and this matter has been referred for a disciplinary hearing. This matter is on…

DIEKETSENG MALEKA dieketseng.maleka@inl.co.za THE WORLD’S second-largest luxury group Richemont said sales increased by nearly a third in the quarter to December, due to the rising demand for its jewellery and watches in the Americas and Europe. In a statement yesterday, the company, which is chaired by billionaire Johann Rupert, said the quarter was its fastest holiday-season sales growth in at least a decade. It said consumers spent lavishly on Cartier jewels and Chloé fashion. Richemont is listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange as a primary listing, and is included in the Swiss Market Index of leading stocks. Richemont South African Depository Receipts are listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, Richemont’s secondary listing. The company’s iconic brands include Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels, Mont Blanc, and Piaget. According to the…

Siphelele Dludla siphelele.dludla@inl.co.za THE INTERNATIONAL Energy Agency (IEA) has hinted that it would be working with the South African government to develop a domestic energy policy to reduce carbon emissions to net zero by 2050. IEA executive director Fatih Birol yesterday said an overwhelming number of countries in the international community had been making inquiries about the organisation’s global net zero carbon emissions roadmap. “Many governments across the world, from India to Chile, from Indonesia to South Africa, many European countries are asking us to make this roadmap domestic for them,” Birol said. “We are working with those countries to prepare their domestic roadmap.” Birol was speaking at the session about navigating the energy transition at Day 3 of the virtual World Economic Forum (WEF) Davos Agenda 2022. The…