Star 2025-01-20

The prestigious Raging Bull Awards, originally scheduled for January 27th, has been moved to Monday, February 17th due to popular demand, aligning with our commitment to deliver an evening that celebrates excellence in the investment industry. This adjustment aligns with our commitment to provide an inclusive event for all and create a successful Raging Bull Awards for 2025. We appreciate the input and support of our industry partners and attendees of the move to a more convenient date, to ensure an unforgettable experience that not only honours the outstanding accomplishments within the industry but also provides meaningful connections and insights for all participants. While the date has been adjusted, all other event details remain unchanged, including the venue and format. Current reservations will be valid for the new date and…

Eskom on Friday said it has reached 296 consecutive days without implementing loadshedding since March 26 last year. “On Monday 20 January at midnight, Eskom will reach 300 days of loadshedding suspension for the South African economy, a milestone not seen since June 2018,” it said. The power utility added that this performance has also resulted in year-to-date diesel savings of R16.42 billion (on a year-on-year basis), which is about 62.9% less than the R26.09bn spent during the same period last year, as a result of the continued execution of the Generation Operational Recovery plan. In a separate statement, Eskom group chief executive Dan Marokane has announced the appointments of Dr Candice Hartley as chief people officer and Rivoningo Mnisi as group executive: renewables, which it says completes “the utility’s…

South African banks’ profitability is expected to remain strong this year, supported by higher credit growth, non-interest income, and lower provisioning, according to credit rating agency S&P Global. S&P’s South Africa Bank Sector Outlook for 2025 said banks will likely benefit from improved economic conditions, with prospects boosted by the improving economic reform momentum driven by the Government of National Unity (GNU), combined with continued progress to address infrastructure deficiencies. Other reports show South African banks remained profitable last year, but they traded through difficult operating environments. For instance, a PwC South Africa report found that headline earnings of the biggest banks for the first half of 2024, only increased by 2.5%. And on the JSE, the Banks Index has experienced significant fluctuations over the past 12 months, but has…

Sasol’s share price shot up 9.4% to R102.16 on the JSE on Friday after it said it was planning to revive its chemical business and explore options including finding additional shareholders and possibly even spinning it off in a separate listing. The petrol-from-coal and manufacturer of chemicals reported a loss before interest and tax of R27.3 billion in the year to June 30, compared to R21.5bn earnings before interest and tax in the prior year, due mainly to increased impairments, lower earnings, translation losses, and reduced derivative gains. It suspended dividend payments and was sitting with some R75 billion of debt at the financial year end. Sasol CEO Simon Baloyi, who took over the role in April, said in an interview with Bloomberg that they viewed the group’s Lake Charles…

‘The 2024 growth actually was slower than we had projected earlier,’ says IMF’s Deniz Igan The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has nudged down below 1% its growth forecasts for South Africa for 2024, citing significant setbacks in the agricultural sector as a key factor affecting the nation’s economic outlook. In its latest World Economic Outlook (WEO) report released on Friday, the IMF revised its 2024 GDP growth projection for South Africa to a modest 0.8%, down from a previous estimate of 1.1% made in October 2024. This projected decrease follows a concerning 0.3% contraction in South Africa’s GDP during the third quarter of 2024, largely triggered by a staggering 28.8% decline in the agriculture, forestry, and fishing industry. The downturn is attributed to diminished economic activity, particularly affecting field crops,…

The Bureau for Food and Agricultural Policy (BFAP), an independent research organisation, said it disputes Statistics South Africa’s calculation that agricultural performance decreased by 28.8% in the third quarter of 2024. As a result, BFAP said that they will join the Agriculture Business Chamber of South Africa (Agbiz), Agri SA, and the Department of Agriculture to form the SA Agricultural Condition Assessment Committee that will assess the state of agriculture in South Africa and release insights on their discussions. BFAP said that they took issue with a StatsSA report that the agricultural sector contracted by 12.2% in the final quarter of 2023. “Our own calculation put the decline at a far more modest 2% to 5%. In a “Perspectives” publication, the BFAP disputed StatsSA’s calculations, particularly on farm inputs which…