The Markets | - Part 179

Diageo’s Kenyan Unit Sees Improved Outlook as Earnings Climb

NAIROBI (Capital Markets in Africa) – East African Breweries Ltd., the region’s biggest brewer, said it’s optimistic about the outlook for the year ahead with its main market Kenya performing better and business in Tanzania returning to growth. “Management is encouraged by trends in the second half of the year in Kenya, during which the business saw better performance in premium and mainstream beer,” the Nairobi-based company said in an emailed statement. “In Tanzania, the…

MTN Drops After Return to Profit Falls Short of Expectations

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JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – MTN Group Ltd., Africa’s biggest mobile-network operator by sales, fell the most in more than a year after a return to first-half profit after a $1 billion regulatory fine fell short of analyst expectations. Headline earnings per share, which exclude one-time items, were probably 2.10 rand to 2.30 rand in the six months ended June 30, the Johannesburg-based company said in a statement Thursday. Analysts at Citi expected 2.60 rand a share, they…

Dangote Cement Profit Jumps as Higher Prices Lift Revenue

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Dangote Cement Plc, Africa’s largest producer of the building material and Nigeria’s biggest company, said first-half profit surged as an increase in revenue offset lower volumes and operations in the rest of the continent helped bolster sales. Net income rose 35 percent to 143.5 billion naira ($447.7 million) in the six months through June, compared with 106 billion naira a year earlier, the Lagos-based company said in a statement…

Kenya’s EABL to convert Tanzania unit loan into equity

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NAIROBI (Capital Markets in Africa) – Kenya’s East African Breweries said it would convert a loan to its Tanzanian business into equity, after reaching a settlement with the competition authority that had been investigating the transaction. Tanzania’s Fair Competition Commission (FCC) threatened to revoke EABL’s 51 percent stake in Serengeti Breweries in 2015, accusing the Kenyan firm of not meeting several conditions. It did not make those conditions public. “In early June, we managed to…

Next Leg of Emerging-Bond Rally About to Start as Rate Cuts Loom

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – The bond rally across emerging markets may get fresh legs. Pressure is growing on central banks in developing nations to cut interest rates more aggressively as inflation eases and the Federal Reserve takes a gradual approach to policy change. That’s reducing the need for the high borrowing costs that deter capital outflows and protect emerging-market currencies. Looser monetary policy is a potential boon to already surging sovereign and corporate bonds in emerging…

Copper Trumps Politics as Investors Take Shine to Zambian Assets

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LUSAKA (Capital Markets in Africa) Investors are overlooking Zambia’s political risk and buying the nation’s assets as the price of copper, its biggest export, rises. The yield on Zambia’s $1 billion Eurobonds due April 2024 have fallen 135 basis points this year to 7.55 percent on Wednesday. The southern African nation’s currency has appreciated 12 percent against the dollar in 2017, making the kwacha the continent’s best performer after Mozambique’s metical. Copper prices are at…

Tullow Plans More Ghana Wells Once Maritime-Border Spat Settled

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ACCRA (Capital Markets in Africa) – Tullow Oil Plc plans to drill more wells off Ghana once a ruling on a border dispute is out of the way. Ghana and Ivory Coast disagree over their maritime boundary, frustrating projects to pump oil and gas offshore. In September, the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, or Itlos, will rule on the matter, likely clearing the way for an expansion of Tullow’s Tweneboa-Enyenra-Ntomme project, the company said. “We were…

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