Cape Times 2022-03-03

Siphelele Dludla siphelele.dludla@inl.co.za THE NATIONAL Treasury has been asked to publish a list of all state-owned enterprises (SOEs) by October so that a determination can be made on which ones should be disposed of. The Fiscal Cliff Study Group yesterday told Parliament it was concerned about the high level of government support for non-performing SOEs in light of no return on investment. The study group led by the head of Wits University’s School of Economics and Business Sciences, Professor Jannie Rossouw, said it was stressing that the government did not have stock of how many companies it owned. Rossouw told the joint meeting of the Standing and Select committees on Finance in Parliament that the overwhelming support of SOEs was weighing heavily on the fiscus. “I want to stress the…

Tawanda Karombo A SURGE in online sales failed to lift Woolworths’ interim earnings per share, which declined 49 percent to 167.9 cents for the six months to December 31 on the back of cost pressures, elevated food inflation, supply chain disruptions and Covid-19 disturbances in its markets. Despite this its share price rose 5.39 percent to R54.33 in late afternoon trade, up nearly 12 percent in three years. The retailer said unrest in South Africa in July and Covid-19 restrictions in Australia had disturbed sales volumes. Woolworths chief executive Roy Bagattini has told Business Report he expects food inflation and other cost pressures to remain elevated in the next six months. “Food inflation has had an impact remained around 4 percent and this is something…

Dieketseng Maleke dieketseng.maleke@inl.co.za ESKOM chief executive Andre de Ruyter reiterated yesterday that the power utility should be allocated a lion’s share of the just transition fund that was offered to South Africa at COP26 as the power utility seeks to expand its power grid. The country was allocated R131 billion ($8.6bn) by France, Germany, the UK and the US, as well as the European Union to accelerate South Africa's transition from high carbon to a low carbon economy. Eskom chief executive Andre de Ruyter, delivering a virtual keynote address at the 2022 Africa Energy Indaba yesterday, said that if the power utility was allocated the money, it would help Eskom expand the grid. “We have issues around the capital, and we are excited about $8.5bn that South Africa managed to…

The price of Brent crude jumped to R1 737 a barrel yesterday, the highest in eight years Siphelele Dludla siphelele.dludla@inl.co.za PETROCHEMICAL giant Sasol yesterday surged 8.4 percent to touch R400 per share on the JSE for the first time in three years after the global oil price shot to an eight-year high due to ongoing fears of supply constraints. The share later closed 7.53 percent higher at R396.93. The group has been struggling to rise to its former glory days after global oil prices plunged more than 30 percent in 2020. However, the invasion of Ukraine by Russia has been a black swan in global markets, leading to commodity prices - including oil, coal and gold - shooting up amid rising demand and risk off sentiment by investors in a…

Philippa Larkin philippa.larkin@inl.co.za JSE-LISTED technology group Mustek is weighing up new product lines for growth as it said yesterday that it had delivered a strong interim trading performance on the back of the new normal: working from home and remote learning. The company, with a market capi- talisation of R895.5 billion, did not deliver a dividend. Small cap Mustek’s shares leapt 3.33 percent in mid-morning trade to R15.19, up a stellar 72 percent in three years. Founded by David Kan in 1987, Mustek comprises Mustek, Rectron and Mecer Inter-Ed, a controlling shareholding in Palladium, shareholdings in Sizwe Africa IT Group and Khauleza IT Solutions, and a substantial shareholding in Yangtze Optics Africa Cable. For the six months ended December 31, 2021, its headline earnings, a key profit…

Edward West edward.west@inl.co.za CASHBUILD, the largest retailer of building materials and products, was severely impacted by the looting of 34 of its stores in July last year, but it kept expenses under control and is ready to tackle what appears to be weakening consumer spending environment. This was according to operations director Shane Thoressen, who was interviewed at the release of the interim results for the six months to December 31, 2021, where revenue fell by 12 percent to R5.89 billion from R6.69bn. Excluding the looted stores, revenue fell by 5 percent to R5.66bn from R5.94bn. Revenue for stores in existence prior to July 2020 declined by 14 percent, while the 12 new stores since July 2020 contributed 2 percent growth. Selling price inflation was…