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Siphelele Dludla siphelele.dludla@inl.co.za AFRICA is positioning itself as the next hub for the multibillion-dollar automotive industry as a number of countries look to start implementing the continental free-trade agreement. The secretary general of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Wamkele Mene yesterday urged African countries to show strong political commitment to the agreement. Speaking during the Automotive Forum at the second day of the Intra-Africa Trade Fair (IATF 2021) yesterday, Mene said the successful implementation of the AfCFTA would significantly reduce costs for business and make continental companies more competitive. Currently, South Africa is host to the largest multinationals assembly plants in the continent. “We should not forget that the automotive industry is a hyper competitive global industry which strives on efficiency and the elimination of waste,” Mene said.…
Banele Ginindza banele.ginindza@inl.co.za SOUTH African Special Risks Insurance Association (Sasria) estimates that damage in July’s looting and mayhem, the most expensive riots in the world, they said, cost more than R50 billion, for which the agency has received claims of up to R32bn, which it intends to fully settle by March 2022. Managing director Cedric Masondo and Fareedah Benjamin, the executive for operations, said yesterday total claims for the looting and mayhem, confined to the KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) and Gauteng provinces amounted to R32bn, R10bn more had been paid out by other insurance companies while the estimate for uninsured losses added another R10bn. “This was one of the most expensive riots in the whole world, surpassing Chile and US riots, the R32bn is not the final number, but the total…
Dineo Faku dineo.faku@inl.co.za GAME HAS ACCUSED the South African Commercial, Catering and Allied Workers’ Union (Saccawu) of putting pressure on workers to go on a strike, but says it does not expect the Black Friday shopping bonanza to be affected. Saccawu said yesterday it was preparing to lead 18 000 members on an indefinite national strike on Friday at Massmart’s 229 stores over wages and unilateral changes to conditions of employment. Massmart spokesperson Brian Leroni said the group was aware that Saccawu’s leadership was “cajoling” its members into taking strike action. “It would appear that Saccawu’s approach has, in cases, involved threatening reluctant members to participate in a strike at a time when they would typically maximise sales commission-based earnings due to higher footfall and sales volumes in our…
Dineo Faku dineo.faku@inl.co.za NASPERS, a global internet and entertainment group and technology investor, said yesterday that it had invested $5.2 billion (R79.3bn) in new acquisitions to expand its ecosystems, mainly in food delivery to position the business for continued long-term growth, and flagged lower headline earnings a share for the half-year ended September 2021. Prosus and parent Naspers told investors that earnings in the six months ended September would dim as the Chinese crackdown weighed heavily on Tencent. Naspers said headline earnings were expected to decrease in the current period by as much as 12 percent, mainly due to the increase in net finance costs “and the decrease in the contribution of fair value gains by our associates”. Tencent in tandem with the Chinese gaming industry has been…
Edward West edward.west@inl.co.za TRANSACTION Capital delivered a robust 27 percent increase in headline earnings in the year to September 30 after trading at its WeBuyCars and Transaction Capital Risk Services (TCRS) surpassed pre-Covid 2019 levels, chief executive David Hurwitz said yesterday. Core headline earnings from continuing operations were up 264 percent to R1.01 billion when compared with 2020. Dividend payments resumed supported by the strong financial performance and healthy balance sheet. During 2021, Transaction Capital increased its shareholding in WeBuyCars to 74.2 percent in August. Hurwitz said the results were driven by organic growth from existing divisions, SA Taxi and TCRS, and high earnings growth from the newly acquired division, WeBuyCars. Dividend payments resumed, supported by the strong financial performance and healthy balance sheet. Hurwitz said SA…
Siphelele Dludla siphelele.dludla@inl.co.za NINETY ONE plc surged more than 3 percent to R53.64 per share on the JSE yesterday as it reported record assets under management of £140 billion (about R2.9 trillion) on positive business momentum. This record for the six months ending September 30 was up by 7 percent from the previous six months, supported by strong net inflows and portfolio growth. The dual-listed asset management group said net revenue increased 10 percent to £328.4 million during the period. Ninety One founder and chief executive Hendrik du Toit said a combination of strategic clarity, disciplined execution, competitive investment performance, and a long-term approach to business continues to work well for the company. “A combination of competitive investment performance, relevant offerings and a stable…
