Manufacturing up, confidence down

ACTIVITY in the manufacturing sector expanded in May as improving economic growth prospects in Europe bolstered demand for SA-produced goods, pushing the Kagiso PMI to 50.8 from 45.4 in April. OFFSHORE investors bought a net R3.4-billion worth of South African stocks in the week ended May 29 and a net R821-million in South African bonds, according to data from the JSE. RETAILER Mr Price plans to open stores in Australia by year-end, it said, as sales growth in its home market lags its international operations. It posted a 20.2% rise in annual headline earnings per share to 919.7c. TRANSNET has agreed to a three-year wage increase agreement with unions representing its non-managerial staff, the logistics firm said. It would increase workers’ pay by 7% from this year up until 2018. INSURER Sanlam achieved “satisfactory” results for the four months ended April, it said in an operational update, with new business volumes of R68-billion up 15% on the first four months of financial 2014. BUSINESS confidence slumped to 86.9 in May from 89.9 the previous month, a 16-year low, as power supply shortages weighed on output in sectors such as manufacturing, the SA Chamber of Commerce and Industry said. NEW vehicle sales fell by 3.2% year on year to 47 868 units in May, data from the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers showed, although exports jumped by 114.2% year on year to 33 411. CADIZ Holdings swung into a full-year loss‚ dragged down mainly by its core assetmanagement business. The basic and diluted headline loss per share came in at 23c, from earnings of 2.7c the previous year. THE expansion in South Africa’s private sector slowed to a crawl in May as power supply shortages and weak export demand weighed on output, with the HSBC PMI edging down to 50.1 from 51.5 in April. SOUTH Africa introduced new visa rules to combat human trafficking that the SA Chamber of Commerce and Industry warned would hurt an industry that accounts for 9% of the country’s GDP.