Confidence is up, but at MTN fine brings gloom

SOUTH Africa business confidence was higher in January than in December, helped by higher commodity prices and a rise in new-vehicle sales. The SA Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s business confidence index rose to 97.7 from 93.8 in December. THE new entrant to South Africa’s stock exchange market, ZAR X, was victorious when the appeal board of the Financial Services Board gave a final judgment, dismissing all appeals against its licence brought by the JSE. ROYAL Bafokeng Platinum said it expected full-year headline earnings per share to soar between 196.2% and 209.4% compared with a headline loss per share in 2015, attributable largely to a 9.8% jump in revenue. THE South African unit of ArcelorMittal narrowed its loss to R4.7-billion in 2016 from R8.6-billion in 2015. An 8% increase to R7 282/ton in the average selling price of steel helped it grow revenue 5% to R32.7-billion. MTN Group suffered its first loss last year after its $1-billion fine in Nigeria. The penalty was compounded by slack earnings in its biggest markets. The Nigerian regulatory penalty chopped R4.74 from full-year earnings per share, the company said. THE decline in mining production extended for another month in December, with output falling 1.9% in December from a year earlier, Stats SA data shows. The sector has posted a year-on-year decline in output every month since October 2015. METAIR, the battery and vehicle component maker, blamed new-car model launches for an expected drop in full-year headline earnings per share, which it estimated would be 7.26%-9.68% down on the previous matching period’s. MORE young people were getting educated but fewer were being absorbed into the job market, especially those who lacked tertiary education, said statistician-general Pali Lehohla in the Educational Enrolment and Achievement 2016 report.