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Edward West edward.west@inl.co.za SPUR Corporation dished up a whopping 119.4 percent increase in headline earnings to R59 million in the six months to December, 2021 as trading conditions improved with the easing of Covid-19 lockdown restrictions. There had been a strong increase in restaurant foot traffic in the last few months of 2021, chief executive Val Nichas said yesterday. Group revenue grew by 40.3 percent to R441m due to improved franchised restaurant turnovers, higher sales in the five company-owned restaurants and increased sales from the manufacturing and distribution division. Comparable profit before income tax, excluding once-off and unusual items, increased by 96.3 percent. An interim dividend of 49 cents per share was declared and the group was ungeared at the end of December, with R259m cash on…
Siphelele Dludla siphelele.dludla@inl.co.za INVESTORS have remained confident that the fiscal path contained in the Budget did enough to starve off a credit ratings downgrade, and provided a firmer footing for an outlook review from negative to stable. Fitch Ratings, one of three major ratings agencies, however, warned yesterday that continuing breaches of expenditure ceilings pointed to difficulties in containing spending. Fitch said there was a risk that recent strong revenue growth might prove temporary. Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana on Wednesday tabled his maiden Budget, showing stronger fiscal revenue. Godongwana said consolidated spending was expected to grow at an annual rate of 3.2 percent over the next three years, from R2.08 trillion in 2021/22 to R2.28 trillion in 2024/25. The finance minister said the improvement in public finances had been enabled…
Petrol price in SA set to come under more pressure leading to higher inflation Siphelele Dludla siphelele.dludla@inl.co.za RUSSIA’S final push into Ukraine caused a seismic risk-off sentiment that reverberated across the globe yesterday, escalating oil prices to an eight-year high while plunging financial markets into turmoil and weakening all major currencies. Global oil prices rose rapidly, the highest in eight years, after Russia launched a full-scale military operation in Ukrainian cities. The escalating Ukraine/Russian conflict spooked investors on fears of supply constraints, driving the price of Brent crude to jump 8 percent to reach $105.29 (R1 610.91) per barrel by 2pm. This was the first time that the price of Brent crude has crossed the $100-mark since September, 2014, as Russian forces fired missiles at several cities in Ukraine, including…
Banele Ginindza banele.ginindza@inl.co.za CABINET and the Takatso Consortium have given the strongest indication yet that national airline South African Airways is still up for a 51 percent takeover by the consortium, eight months after the deal was first put in the public domain. In a statement yesterday, the Takatso Consortium said it could “confirm the recent Cabinet announcement that the sale and purchase process has been concluded”, whereby the Consortium would buy a 51 percent stake in SAA subject to various regulatory approvals and conditions precedent. This was confirmed by an earlier statement issued by the Presidency “that further progress had been made in the disposal of 51 percent of shares in SAA to Takatso. This comes shortly after Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana in his inaugural…
Edward West edward.west@inl.co.za DISCOVERY lifted normalised headline earnings per share by 26 percent to 437.7 cents for the six months to December 31 after it grew through the pandemic, with a strong performance from Discovery Bank and the establishment of Amplify Health. Despite the good performance though, no interim dividend was declared, which saw its share price slide in intraday trade, down 4.35 percent to R153.61. Management said that over the period, their strategy remained three-pronged: navigating the pandemic; building on the business model, with good traction in Discovery Bank; and the conclusion of the Amplify Health transaction with AIA Group on February 15, 2022 and focusing on cash and capital management. Discovery is injecting its Vitality and Health capabilities into a new health InsurTech joint venture with the AIA…
Mad Max: Fury Road actress Charlize Theron claims she “didn’t feel safe” after a huge row with co-star Tom Hardy during filming for the 2015 blockbuster. The 46-year-old actress has apologised “profusely” for their infamous on-set rows while shooting the 2015 post-apocalyptic blockbuster – which they have both opened up about in the past – and she admitted their behaviour was “not a conducive working environment”. In Kyle Buchanan’s new book, Blood, Sweat Chrome: The Wild and True Story of Mad Max: Fury Road – as quoted by USA Today – she said: “It was like two parents in the front of the car. “We were either fighting or we were icing each other – I don’t know which one is worse – and (our co-stars) had to deal…
