Harmony shines; coal terminal misses target

HARMONY Gold paid its first interim dividend — 50c — in four years as its operations and hedging strategies contributed to a strong performance in the first half of its financial year, leaving the company practically debt free and ready for growth.

THE Absa purchasing managers’ index staged a surprise recovery and rose to 50.9 in January, suggesting that manufacturers got off to a better start in 2017 than predicted. The index reading for December was 46.7.

NEW-vehicle sales rose 3.7% year on year to 50 333 units in January, data from the Department of Trade and Industry showed, although exports were down 10.3% to 11 659 units compared with the same month a year earlier.

VODACOM maintained its market share in South Africa, with growth expected to remain steady in the medium term. Its local subscriber base grew by 690 000 in the quarter to December, taking its total base in South Africa to 36.4 million.

POULTRY producer RCL Foods flagged a drop of as much as 54% in first-half profits as imports and high feed prices put pressure on its operations and led to job cuts at one of its plants. It expected headline earning per share to fall to 40c-55c against 87.2c in the previous period.

RICHARDS Bay Coal Terminal said 2016 coal exports fell 3.7% to 72.6 million tons, missing its target of 75 million tons on weak demand from Europe. The coal-export facility aims to raise its exports to 77 million tons this year.

THE cost of a basic basket of food rose 16.5% last month compared with January a year ago, with staples such as maize recording among the highest increases, the latest Pacsa monthly food price barometer showed.

SOUTH Africa recorded a budget surplus of nearly R23billion in December, the ninth month of the 2016-17 financial year, compared with a more than R32-billion surplus over the same period in 2015-16, Treasury data showed.