South Africa | - Part 56

Futuregrowth invests R300m in South Africa’s SA Taxi

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – SA Taxi today announced that it has secured R300-million in funding from Futuregrowth Asset Management, which will be used to provide financing to the company’s Zebra Cabs owner-driver scheme. SA Taxi, South Africa’s largest financier of minibus taxis, acquired Zebra Cabs metered taxis in 2015 as the certified developmental credit provider sought to expand its business activities into relevant adjacent markets. Mark Herskovits, SA Taxi Capital Markets Director, explains…

Fitch keeps S.Africa’s investment-grade rating but cuts outlook to negative

Posted on by The Editorial Team

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – Ratings agency Fitch affirmed South Africa’s investment-grade credit rating at one notch above ‘junk’ on Friday but changed its outlook to negative from stable, warning that political risks could hurt growth. With the economy expected to grow by only half a percent this year, South Africa has been racing to avert a downgrade of its sovereign debt to sub-investment status, which would raise its borrowing costs and deter investment. Africa’s…

South Africa leaves key rate steady, warns of risks to inflation

Posted on by The Editorial Team

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – South Africa’s central bank kept its benchmark repo rate unchanged at 7 percent on Thursday in line with market consensus, but warned that risks to the inflationary outlook had increased. Delivering the last scheduled rate decision for the year, the central bank Governor Lesetja Kganyago said food price inflation was expected to moderate at a slower pace than what the bank had previously forecast. The bank has kept the benchmark…

Steady rates, rand to buoy South African bonds despite “junk” threat

Posted on by The Editorial Team

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – Yield-hungry investors look set to boost demand for South African bonds despite the threat of rating downgrades to “junk”, as the cycle of interest rate hikes ends, the rand recovers and inflation calms down, analysts say. The Treasury is battling to avoid downgrades from Moody’s, Fitch and S&P this year, with the agencies keen to see Pretoria’s commitment to fiscal prudence. But Lesiba Mothata, chief economist at Investment Solutions, which…

South Africa’s Mr Price reports first drop in profit in 15 years as economy sours

Posted on by The Editorial Team

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – South African no-frills retailer Mr Price said on Monday it expected low sales for the rest of the financial year after reporting its first decline in profit in 15 years, sending its shares to a three-year low. Sluggish economic growth in South Africa, seen at less than 1 percent this year, coupled with rising interest rates and inflation and a warmer than expected winter have forced clothing retailers to…

South African equity funds fail to beat the benchmark over five years

Posted on by The Editorial Team

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – South African equity markets once again lagged global markets over the past year. This underperformance can partly be attributed to the contraction of 1.2% in the country’s GDP in the first quarter of 2016, which was principally due to a significantly lower production in platinum group metals over the period. The sense of unease was further compounded when S&P Global Ratings warned that it may strip the country of…

RICS: Increasing Confidence in South Africa Property Markets

Posted on by The Editorial Team

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – In the extensive travel that I do in my role I get to talk to professionals and market leaders right across the UK, Europe, Middle East and Africa. I also get to talk to governments and policy makers. What is very clear to me is that for all these parties the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) name promises the consistent delivery of standards – bringing confidence to the…

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