Pretoria News 2022-05-20

ALEXFORBES Investments, South Africa’s largest pension funds administrator with R400 billion of assets under management, yesterday released a transformation policy that it believes will help to accelerate the too-slow transformation of the asset management industry. “As the largest multimanager in South Africa, we are uniquely positioned to make a real impact when it comes to driving transformation across the local asset management industry. “As part of this responsibility, we aim to stimulate growth and development of black asset managers and support up-and-coming black asset managers to foster a more inclusive and competitive asset management industry,” chief executive Anne Leepile said in a presentation yesterday. A survey of the industry in South Africa by the group showed that the industry was too concentrated, with the top 10 asset managers in…

THE SHARES in Tongaat Hulett slid 5.45 percent yesterday on market uncertainty after the sugar producer announced that its chairperson, Louis von Zeuner, had unexpectedly resigned due to “personal reasons”. The share closed at R2.65 on the JSE yesterday, having tumbled 97.68 percent in five years. Opportune Investments founder Chris Logan said in an interview yesterday the market should not see the move as a “red flag”. The company is a “going concern”. Tongaat Hulett said: “Louis von Zeuner, chairperson and non-executive director of the Tongaat Hulett board, has regrettably informed the board that he will not be available for re-election as chairperson at this year’s AGM (annual general meeting) due to a change in his personal circumstances.“ Von Zeuner, who had “consequently resigned” as the chairperson, would remain…

The bank raised its benchmark lending rate by 50 basis points to 4.75%, the fourth consecutive hike and biggest rise since January 2016 THE SOUTH African Reserve Bank (SARB) has confirmed the news that no consumer wants to hear: it’s going to get worse before it gets better as the cost of living escalates while economic growth dwindles. The SARB yesterday confirmed that it would continue raising interest rates this year after it delivered the largest hike in more than six years, accelerating the cost of borrowing even further. The bank raised its benchmark lending rate by 50 basis points to 4.75 percent, the fourth consecutive hike and the biggest since January 2016. This was mainly due to heightened inflation risks stemming from prevailing geopolitical tensions and domestic…

INVESTEC’S profit soared almost 91 percent in the year to March 31 due to strong growth in loans, gaining more clients and an increase in funds under management, the lender said yesterday. The bank, which services higher-income private clients in South Africa, increased adjusted earnings per share to 55.1 pence (R10.92) from 28.9p in 2021, at the top end of previous guidance and ahead of comparable pre-Covid levels. A final dividend of 14p per share was declared, taking the full year dividend to 25p per share, almost double the 13p of 2021. The lender has been among the top performing banks in South Africa in terms of share price in 12 months, possibly due to its focus on acquiring quality clients, cutting costs and hiving off its global…

FORMER Statistician-General Dr Pali Lehohla has slammed South Africa’s levels of indebtedness as a result of the government’s decision to borrow money from multilateral lenders. Lehohla yesterday said the government should be using the country’s large pension funds savings to alleviate some of the most pressing issues such as unemployment and poverty. He said that there was no need for the government to borrow billions of rand from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the lender of the last resort, as the money could easily be raised internally. South Africa received a R70 billion loan from the IMF in 2020 and R11.4bn from the World Bank this year to support job creation and protection for businesses negatively impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic. “South Africa is the only country in the…

MASSMART Holdings continues to lose sales, extending its two-year streak of volume declines with a further fall in the 19-week period to the end of the first week of this month amid tightening economic conditions that have hit consumers’ disposable incomes. Shares in Massmart on the JSE closed 6.89 percent weaker at R37.59 on the JSE yesterday. Shares in other South African retailers Pick n Pay and Shoprite closed 2.43 and 1.55 percent weaker at R55.07 and R207.61, respectively. Wayne McCurrie, a wealth and investments analyst at FNB, said Massmart was “feeling the cost pressures the same as everyone else” in South Africa. The weighted average sales inflation across Massmart’s operations topped 3.6 percent, primarily driven by the foodstuffs and do-it-yourself categories. The…