Cape Times 2021-07-01

Siphelele Dludla siphelele.dludla@inl.co.za PRIVATE sector loans continued to remain in contractionary territory for the third month in May as corporates and households reduced taking credit on Covid-19-induced activity. Data from the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) yesterday showed that private sector credit fell 0.42 percent year-on-year in May, following a deep decline of 1.76 percent in April. This decline was better than market expectations of 0.9 percent. SARB said the ease was primarily due to corporate credit, which contracted 5 percent year-on-year in May following a sharp 6.7 percent slump in April. South African businesses have remained reluctant to take on more credit as uncertainties over the economic outlook remain due to rising Covid-19 cases and lockdown restrictions. In contrast, household credit extension continued an upward trend, growing by a…

Dineo Faku dineo.faku@inl.co.za RIO TINTO yesterday declared force majeure on customer contracts at Richards Bay Minerals (RBM) in KwaZulu-Natal and halted operations a month after the assassination of its general manager of operations, Nico Swart. Rio Tinto said it decided to halt operations at the mine because of the escalation of violence. The group said operations would remain suspended until the safety and security position improved. Chief executive for minerals Sinead Kaufman said: “The safety of our people is our top priority. We continue to offer our full support to the investigating authorities, and I would like to acknowledge the ongoing support of the regional and national governments and SAPS as we work together to ensure that we can safely resume operations.” Kaufman said all mining and smelting operations at…

Siphelele Dludla siphelele.dludla@inl.co.za SOUTH Africa’s bumper trade activity rose above expectations in May as the country recorded the largest monthly trade surplus ever on the rise in exports. The SA Revenue Service (Sars) yesterday said South Africa’s trade surplus rose to R54.60 billion in May from an upwardly revised R 51.26bn in April. The trade balance has remained firmly in the surplus to date, recording R51.2bn in April, marginally narrower than the R52.6bn surplus for March. The May trade balance reading easily beat market expectations of a R46.5bn trade surplus by a significant margin. Sars said exports increased 1.5 percent, or R2.37bn between April and May to total R163.51bn, boosted by higher shipments of vehicles and transport equipment, vegetables and chemical products to the US, China, Germany, Japan and…

Philippa Larkin philippa.larkin@inl.co.za JSE-LISTED Aspen Pharmacare has secured a €600 million (R10 billion) financing package to support the pharmaceutical firm’s operations, including the production of vaccines. The package was financed by the International Finance Institution (IFC), French development institution Proparco, German development finance corporation DEG and the US International Development Finance Corporation. It is the largest health-care investment and mobilisation the IFC has led globally to date. The financing would help Aspen to refinance existing debt and strengthen the company’s balance sheet, supporting Aspen’s operations, including production of vaccines and other therapies in African and emerging markets, a statement yesterday said. The four development finance institutions also have the objective of helping to facilitate an increase in vaccine manufacturing know-how within Africa by partnering with Aspen. Aspen has…

YOUTH month has come and gone. It is thus compelling to reflect on the challenges facing South Africa’s youth – top of which is unemployment. According to Statistics South Africa’s (StatsSA) Quarterly Labour Force for the first quarter of 2021, South Africa’s unemployment rate stood at 32.6 percent. This rate was 46.3 percent among young people aged 15 to 34 years, implying that almost one in every two young people in the labour force did not have a job in the first quarter of 2021. About a quarter, 24.4 percent, of the youth have jobs, and 45.3 percent participate in the labour market. Within the youth, those aged 15 to 24 are more vulnerable in the labour market with an unemployment rate of more than…

Sandile Mchunu sandile.mchunu@inl.co.za ETION yesterday returned to profit- ability in the year to the end of March, boosted by a strong second-half performance after it was negatively impacted by the Covid-19 outbreak in the first half of the financial year. As a result, the group reported a profit after tax of R52.6 million, an improvement of 245 percent compared with the loss of R36.1m a year earlier. Etion said the 2021 financial year was one of two distinct halves as the group responded to the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. The group reported total comprehensive income of R4.9m at half-year, while the total comprehensive income for the full year was R52.6m. “All of the businesses emerged stronger during the second half of the financial year as demand for…