Star 2022-12-07

SOUTH Africa’s banks have overtaken insurers, retailers and telecoms companies in positive social media sentiment to become the country’s most-liked industry, while TymeBank is viewed as the most affordable among them, a survey has found. DataEQ’s annual South African Banking Index tracked more than 4 million social media posts about African Bank, Absa, Capitec Bank, Discovery Bank, FNB, Nedbank, Standard Bank and TymeBank, between September 1, 2021, and August 31, 2022. “Having followed an upward post-pandemic trajectory, the banking industry’s net sentiment improved most significantly over the past year, shooting up from -7.5% in 2021 to 9.4% in 2022,” DataEQ head of client service Sarah Lamb said yesterday. The sharp improvement saw the banks climb to first place in the cross- industry Net Sentiment comparison, suggesting South Africans had a…

Economy stands good chance of rising above the sub-2% forecast in 2022 SOUTH Africa’s economy now stands a good chance of rising above the sub-2% forecast in 2022 after gross domestic product (GDP) swung back to growth in the third quarter, buoyed by the agricultural sector. However, there is lingering concern that persistent load shedding, the cumulative impact of interest rate increases on household consumption, and the global slowdown could impede the growth outcome for the fourth quarter. Data from Statistics SA (StatsSA) yesterday showed that GDP surprised on the upside, rising by 1.6% in the three months to September. This meant the economy dodged a technical recession after shrinking by 0.7% in Q2. This GDP print was well above market forecasts of a 0.6% increase, partly because of a…

THE Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) has delivered news that no motorist or consumer wanted to hear: a petrol price hike in December. This comes in spite of the decline in the average Brent crude oil price from $90.79 per barrel to $88.77 a barrel during the period under review, amid fears of lower demand from China due the lockdowns there. The DMRE yesterday confirmed that motorists will pay more at the pumps as both grades of petrol would go up by 59 cents a litre, higher than the previously expected 20-cent hike. However, the good news is that diesel is coming down by a significant margin of between R1.52 and R1.59 a litre, while illuminating paraffin would decline by 57 cents per litre. The DMRE said the…

SCHRODER European Real Estate Investment Trust has €50 million (R910m) of fire-power to deploy on opportunities over six to 12 months to diversify, grow income and strengthen exposure to growth cities, regions and sectors in Europe. Schroder, which has a secondary listing on the JSE, continued its pre-Covid-19 quarterly dividend payout of 1.85 euro cents a share for the period to the financial year end to September 30, in line with target, while special dividends of €12.8m, reflecting 9.60 euro cents a share, were paid due to the “exceptional” asset management profits from the repositioning of Paris Boulogne-Billancourt (Paris B-B), Schroder’s fund manager, Jeff O’Dwyer, said yesterday. The net asset value total return of 7.3% was based on a profit of €13.9m, compared with a 3.2% return the previous…

THE COEGA Development Corporation (CDC) achieved for the first time, a double-digit growth in the number of new investors signed in the 2021/2022 financial year with its target exceeded by 86% and the value of pledged investment totalling R557.7 million, chief financial officer, Roger Hill, said yesterday. “The investment value signed for the current financial year is R557m against a target of R250m. Seraphim New Energy is one of the investments concluded in the fourth quarter, which contributed to the over-performance for the period under review,” said CDC CEO, Khwezi Tiya. This was mostly attributed to investors taking up brownfield space in the multi-user facility, and other available facilities. But Hill warned, “Although the number of signed investors has been exceeded, there remains a challenge with funding for new investors…

ANGLO Coal’s black economic empowerment (BEE) partner Inyosi Coal is on a sound financial footing following the successful completion of a R1 billion deal last month, in which it acquired shares in JSE-listed Thungela Resources. In an interview yesterday, Inyosi Coal chairperson Yoli Balfour said: “Once we have cash, it’s a different ball game. Now we can start doing business, not empowerment… We are a hands-on group. We are participating in our investment. We are in a position of decision-making, creating a meaningful business and making financial sense for Inyosi.” Thungela reached an agreement with Inyosi to acquire the remaining 27% shareholding of Anglo American Inyosi Coal (AAIC), in exchange for 4.18 million shares in Thungela. This means Inyosi will own 3.02% of Thungela. Balfour said the past 15 years…