Platinum earnings up, retail sales fall

A WEAKER rand lifted full-year earnings at Northam Platinum by 69%, although the mining company said the outlook remained uncertain and it declined to pay a dividend. Sales increased 20% year on year. STANDARD Bank Group, Africa’s largest lender, reported an 11% rise in first-half earnings as strong loan growth helped offset a spike in bad debt charges. It paid an interim dividend of 233c a share. SHARES in Coronation Fund Managers jumped 3% as the asset manager said full-year headline earnings a share would be “considerably” higher than 20%. Coronation is due to report its full results around November 12. STOCK and bond exchange operator JSE Ltd posted a 35% rise in first-half earnings, lifted by robust trading on Africa’s biggest exchange that has sent key indices to a series of lifetime records this year. CONSTRUCTION firm Group Five reported an 88% rise in headline earnings a share for the year to June. CEO Mike Upton expects “modest increases in margin and earnings” in the 2014 financial year. GROWTH in South Africa’s retail sales surprised by falling markedly to 1.9% year on year in June from 6% in May, said Statistics South Africa, as consumers felt the effects of the slowing economy. SIBANYE Gold reported a 70% drop in first-half profit, hit by a mine fire that has slowed production, and said it would not pay a dividend until contentious wage talks were settled. Production fell 5% in the first half. EMPLOYMENT fell sharply during July‚ according to the latest Adcorp index‚ which showed 37 288 jobs were shed. This was the third-worst monthly performance since the 2009 global financial crisis. HARMONY Gold’s quarterly loss widened nearly fourfold after improved volumes and prices failed to compensate for the substantial hit it took on its Papua New Guinea assets. It reported a headline loss of 186c a share. THE National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa plans to launch an open-ended nationwide strike tomorrow in the car industry in a dispute over pay affecting more than 30 000 assembly-line workers.