South Africa | - Part 35

South Africa Business confidence down sharply in the second quarter

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – After hovering in net negative terrain between 32 and 42 index points over the past year, the RMB/BER Business Confidence Index (BCI) collapsed by 11 points to 29 in the second quarter. This means seven out of every 10 respondents are downbeat about prevailing business conditions. We last saw such despondency during the 2009 recession. Striking too is the fact that each of the five sectors covered in the…

PPC Reports Loss on Higher Finance Costs, Low Domestic Prices

Posted on by The Editorial Team

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – PPC Limited reported a full-year loss of 295 million rand ($22.9 million) as the South African cement maker incurred higher finance costs following the downgrade of the company’s debt and battled persistent low prices in its home market. Earnings per share excluding one-time items slumped 93 percent to 7 cents a share, the Johannesburg-based company said in a statement on Wednesday. Sales rose 5 percent to 9.6 billion rand, while capacity increased…

Datatec Shares Soar by a Record After $830 Million Asset Sale

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JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – Datatec Limited shares jumped by the most on record after the South African IT services company agreed to sell the North and Latin American operations of its Westcon-Comstor business for as much as $800 million. Synnex Corporation of the U.S. will take over the operations and buy a 10 percent stake in the rest of the Westcon-Comstor division for $30 million, Johannesburg-based Datatec said in a statement on Tuesday. The deal will…

Barclays Rejected Zimbabwe Management-Buyout Bid in Favor of FMB

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JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – An offer for Barclays Plc’s Zimbabwe unit by its management and backed by funds from the country’s social security agency lost out to Malawi’s First Merchant Bank Ltd. It’s a “shame” that Barclays Bank of Zimbabwe Ltd. didn’t stay with local investors, National Social Security Authority Chairman Robin Vela said by phone from the capital, Harare, on Monday, confirming that the agency was willing to fund the deal. “Barclays…

South Africa Unexpectedly Tips Into Second Recession in 8 Years

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JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – South Africa’s economy fell into a recession for the first time since 2009 after it contracted for a second straight quarter in the first three months of the year as all bar two industries shrank. Gross domestic product receded an annualized 0.7 percent in the first quarter from a contraction of 0.3 percent in the previous three months, Statistics South Africa said in a report released on Tuesday in the capital,…

South Africa Gets S&P Reprieve as Local Debt Averts Junk

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JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – S&P Global Ratings left its assessment of South Africa’s foreign-currency debt at the highest junk level and its rand bonds at the lowest investment grade, granting the country a reprieve after a downgrade in April. The foreign-currency rating was affirmed at BB+, S&P said in a statement Friday. The assessment on rand debt, which comprises about 90 percent of the country’s portfolio, was maintained at BBB-. The outlook on both…

Nigerian Banks Outstrip Peers on Returning Dollar, Old Mutual Up

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Since the Nigerian central bank eased a dollar shortage by opening a currency-trading window for foreign investors in April, lenders in Africa’s biggest economy have soared. The local banking index is up 35 percent this quarter, outstripping South Africa’s equivalent stock gauge and MSCI’s emerging-market financials index. Even after the jump, Guaranty Trust Bank is the sole Nigerian lender in the index to trade above its book value, while none of…

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