Cape Times 2022-02-21

Edward West edward.west@inl.co.za Ascendis Health, the ailing wellness group whose shareholders voted in a new board, says its recapitalisation was largely complete and debt had reduced by R7.7 billion. Meanwhile, at an operational-level, the normalised headline loss strengthened 23 percent to a loss of R438 million, including recapitalisation finance costs of R366m in the six months to December 31, the results showed on Friday. The normalised headline loss per share improved 23 percent to 91 cents. Head office costs reduced by 30 percent to R46m. With the recapitalisation concluded in October 2021, the disposals of Animal Health and Respiratory Care Africa (RCA), were completed shortly thereafter. Remedica and Sunwave were included in the results until the close date of their disposal of October 21, 2021;…

Siphelele Dludla siphelele.dludla@inl.co.za Investors on Friday urged Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana to prioritise economic growth and provide clarity on structural reforms when he tables his maiden Budget Speech on Wednesday. This Budget comes when the severe real-time impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on economic activity has largely diminished, but poverty and unemployment have deepened. Economic growth is projected to rise between 1.7 percent and 2.2 percent this year, but the end of the National State of Disaster and all Covid-19 lockdown restrictions could boost activity. In his State of the Nation Address (Sona), President Cyril Ramaphosa emphasised that the government was accelerating critical structural reforms, a positive for medium-term economic and employment growth. Wealth manager Citadel’s chief economist Maarten Ackerman said last week Godongwana should prioritise policies that grow the…

Siphelele Dludla siphelele.dludla@inl.co.za THE Automobile Association of SA on Friday appealed to Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana not to increase general fuel and Road Accident Fund (RAF) levies in the 2022 Budget he is set to deliver this week. The call comes as the latest data points to big fuel price hikes next month – well above R1 a litre for all grades – that will push petrol prices to a record high of more than R21 a litre. The AA has urged the finance minister to provide relief to consumers already reeling under economic hardship, with the next petrol price increases expected to pile further financial pressure on cash-strapped households. Fuel price data released on Friday by the Central Energy Fund forecast increases that will lead to record high fuel…

Dieketseng Maleke and Philippa Larkin PAN-AFRICAN mobile operator MTN, which recently bolstered its management team and is in the midst of brand refresh that will position it as a technology company, cautioned shareholders on Friday that its annual profit was expected to leap up to 35 percent. The company announced key management changes in December as it positions itself for sustained growth and greater relevance, underscored by its Ambition 2025 strategy. It plans to advance to a post-Covid-19 environment with a focus on accelerating growth in the core connectivity business, deleverage debt, and drive the structural separation of its fintech and infraco assets. For the year ended December 2021 MTN forecast a hike in headline earnings per share (Heps) of between 25 and 35 percent to a range…

Edward West edward.west@inl.co.za DISCOVERY delivered a robust performance in the six months to December 31, 2021 as it pursued a dual strategy of navigating the pandemic and working on growth, while paying out R3.4 billion in Covid-19 claims. In a trading statement on Friday, the company said normalised profit from operations was expected to increase by between 5 percent and 10 percent compared to the six months ended December 31, 2020, while normalised headline earnings (NHE) were expected to increase by between 20 percent and 30 percent. Core new business API (Annualised Premium Income) increased by 6 percent compared to the prior period. The six months included the end of the Covid-19 Delta third wave in South Africa, in the latter part of September,…

THE appointment of Enoch Godongwana as finance minister in August last year was roundly welcomed by big business and the markets. His inaugural Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement delivered on November 11, 2021 was received with a cautious thumbs up by the markets, with the rand gaining ground against the dollar on the day. As a show of confidence in the budget statement, the yield on the benchmark 10-year bond fell 20 basis points to 9.235 percent, indicating that the statement wasn’t “populist”. Even the equity markets, which are often less sensitive to such statements, the JSE All Share Index rose by a percentage point on the day. All this should have come as very welcome news indeed for the president, the new minister, government, the ANC and alliance partners. This…