Cape Times 2022-02-18

Edward West edward.west@inl.co.za PURPLE Group, one of the fastest rising shares on the JSE last year, has seen its price fall materially in January in line with a global sell-off of fast growth stocks, a trend that has not yet recovered. The financial services company owns the online platforms EasyEquities, EasyProperties, EasyCrypto and GT247.com. Its EasyEquities platform, started in 2014, allows investors to buy fractional ownership of shares listed on the JSE and the New York Stock Exchange, and now has a million users. Purple traded 1.82 percent lower to R2.70 yesterday morning, bringing its year-to-date decline to 8.33 percent. That may not seem like a big decline, but consider that the price traded as high as R3.43 on January 14, before falling sharply in the days thereafter, bringing…

Siphelele Dludla siphelele.dludla@inl.co.za THE rand strengthened to a three-month high yesterday, dipping below the R15 mark to the US dollar and buoyed by a rally in global commodity prices on continued geopolitical risks. The domestic currency firmed to R14.96 against the greenback, the strongest it has been since October 26, as tensions between Russia and Ukraine re-escalated. The rand first broke below the R15/$1-level overnight after headline inflation for January was lower at 5.7 percent, while retail sales for December were up 3.7 percent. “A sustained break of this level could see further strength to the 200-day moving average at R14.90 levels,” said André Cilliers, a currency strategist at TreasuryONE. “Trading could, however, be choppy as the situation between Russia and Ukraine develops …” The markets were…

Tawanda Karombo Harare THE Zimbabwean investment of Pick n Pay, South Africa’s third-largest supermarket chain by sales, is proving to be lucrative and strategic as competition in the South African grocery sector heats up, and eats into its market share. Despite earlier fears that the Omicron variant of Covid-19 could impact on volumes and revenue, Pick n Pay’s stores in Zimbabwe top performed in the quarter to the end of December. Under a partnership with Zimbabwe- listed Meikles Limited, which also runs prime city and resort hotels, and has just separately listed an agro-processing unit on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange, Pick n Pay has seen its visibility in Zimbabwe expand in the past few months. This has boosted sales volumes. “Sales volumes at the supermarkets segment increased by 32 percent…

Banele Ginindza banele.ginindza@inl.co.za ASSURANCES by the board of Onderstepoort Biological Products (OBP), a state-owned producer of vaccines for the livestock industry, that it was putting its house in order comes as cold comfort for red meat producers and equestrian sectors as a crippling shortage of vaccines, some unavailable for over a year now, is already resulting in some animal deaths. The industry is apprehensive about the shortage of vaccines, especially for waterborne diseases, which are escalating after a strong rainy season raised the presence of mosquitoes and other insect carriers. An official of the National Animal Health Forum, which comprises the Red Meat Producers Organisation (RPO), the African Farmers Association of South Africa, AgriSA and the South African Poultry Association, said reports emerged at a liaison meeting yesterday that horses…

Edward West edward.west@inl.co.za GRINDROD Shipping Holdings, the Nasdaq and JSE-listed global provider of mainly dry-bulk maritime transport services, has declared an interim quarterly cash dividend of $0.72 (R10.76) per ordinary share, the results for the three months and year to December 31, 2021 showed yesterday. Some $10.2 million of shares were repurchased in the quarter, equivalent to $0.55 a share, which means the company will return capital equivalent to a total of $1.27 per ordinary share to shareholders. For the full 2021, cash dividends totalling $1.44 per ordinary share were declared, and shares worth $11.9m were repurchased. Chief executive Martyn Wade said 2021 was a transformational year for Grindrod Shipping, as it recorded financial results in the fourth quarter and full year overall, while concluding several important initiatives. “We…

corrie kruger I FIND it somewhat ironic that at a time when we in South Africa debate whether we should follow economic policy as a pure capitalistic nation or that of a developmental state, one of the country’s largest banks directs and employs its capital − not at the masses of unemployed and jobless people, but at the opposite end of the spectrum, with a niche audience and events sponsorship aimed at the elite and the super-rich. There’s nothing wrong in a little aspiration, of course, and they may spend their marketing budget where they like − if it makes sense and delivers returns. But it strikes me that returns at this juncture in our post-pandemic economic fight for survival should not just be measured in terms of brand awareness…