Cape Times 2022-03-09

Dieketseng Maleke dieketseng.maleke@inl.co.za SHOPRITE delivered strong growth in profit and sales in its half-year despite the impact of July 2021 unrest on its bottom line as its “relentless” focus on affordability won over customers. The supermarket giant released its results for the six months to January 2, 2022, reporting that it grew its headline earnings per share by 25 percent to 519.3 cents. Diluted headline earnings per share from continuing operations increased by 25.2 percent, while the board declared an interim dividend of 233c per share. This represented a year-on-year dividend per share growth of 22 percent. “The dividend has been declared out of income reserves,” the retailer said. The company said its balance sheet remained strong and reflected the group’s continued focus on its capital…

Siphelele Dludla siphelele.dludla@inl.co.za THE ECONOMY could remain in a protracted recession despite data from Statistics South Africa (StatsSA) yesterday that showed that the economy expanded by 4.9 percent in 2021, recovering from a pandemic-induced 6.4 percent decline in 2020. In spite of economic growth mounting a significant comeback last year and from a historic contraction experienced at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, economists now fear that the next few months will likely be more volatile as the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine has led to a spike in oil prices, South Africa’s largest import item. This was the largest growth in gross domestic product (GDP) in 14 years, led by higher economic activity in finance, personal services, and manufacturing industries. Despite these positive figures, StatsSA…

Banele Ginindza banele.ginindza@inl.co.za POWER utility Eskom, caught in the pincers of the Russia/Ukraine war, which has led to the whopping rise of oil and coal prices, will have to look closely at how to structure its strained finances to cope. Eskom yesterday warned that continued steep price rises will be difficult to absorb in light of its financial constraints as it crunches the numbers from a heavier than normal reliance on its Open Cycle Gas Turbines (OCGT) plants, as well as those operated by independent power producers (IPPs), ahead of its most recent decision to implement Stage 2 load-shedding on Monday, which has now been extended to Saturday morning. Eskom needs both oil and coal to keep the lights on. Oil futures rose to near $123 (R1 888) a…

Siphelele Dludla siphelele.dludla@inl.co.za INTERNATIONAL oil and commodity prices continued rising yesterday as Western countries mulled stricter bans of Russian oil and gas imports over its invasion of Ukraine. The UK yesterday announced plans to phase out Russian oil imports in the coming months while the EU would reduce Russian gas imports by almost 80 percent this year. The US is also hinting at the possibility of banning imports of Russian oil, with Moscow threatening to retaliate by suspending gas exports to Europe. Brent oil prices touched $130 (R2000) per barrel as concerns grew over the disruption of Russian oil exports. Total Energies was the first big oil company to announce its traders will no longer buy Russian crude and most buyers are already shunning its supplies. Shell yesterday followed suit,…

Edward West edward.west@inl.co.za AFRICAN capital markets continued to recover modestly through 2021, mainly through higher debt issuance and despite a shift away from equity markets, PricewaterhouseCoopers’ annual Africa Capital Markets Watch report showed yesterday. The improved overall market was in spite of the health and economic impact of Covid-19 worldwide and was reflected in higher values of non-local corporate, sovereign and supranational debt raised during the year. Average issuances on African markets were larger than the prior year, with 94 issuances valued at $47.5 billion (R729.3bn) from 81 issuances worth $28.5bn in 2020. The $15.2bn total proceeds were almost double the highest annual value in ten years. “Global investors continue to assess the repayment burden on African sovereigns, which was exacerbated by the pandemic, leading to higher levels of…

Edward West edward.west@inl.co.za CAPITAL & Regional, the UK-focus REIT that owns in-town shopping centres, was experiencing some hard fought stability following a restructure and recapitalisation, chief executive Lawrence Hutchings said yesterday. No final dividend was declared for the 52.1 percent held Growthpoint company, but the plan was to resume dividends in the second half of 2022, the results for the six months to December 31 showed yesterday. Net debt to property value, however, improved markedly to 49 percent from 65 percent, although investors have through the pandemic preferred this figure to be 40 percent or lower. Shopping centre foot accounts and valuations have been hard hit by Covid-19 related restrictions, accelerating structural changes in shopping, resulting in many real estate investment trusts experiencing lower distributions and…