Outlook improves but Vodacom suffers
THE Reserve Bank’s monthly leading business cycle indicator, which gauges the economic outlook, crept up 0.1% in May, largely driven by increased job advertising space and a rise in residential building plans passed.
ELECTRONICS giant Samsung has agreed to establish its first African manufacturing facility at KwaZulu-Natal’s Dube Tradeport‚ after Dube’s special economic zone status was approved by the cabinet two weeks ago.
CONSUMER goods group AVI expects its annual consolidated headline earnings a share from continuing operations to rise by between 11% and 14% from a year ago. The results are expected on September 8.
LONDON-LISTED SABMiller, the world’s second-biggest brewer, reported higher firstquarter sales volumes, helped by a return to growth in lager sales in Africa. Revenue rose 6% and volume sold was up 3%.
PRIVATE education group Curro said it expected headline earnings a share of between 8.2c and 9.2c for the six months ended June 30 from 5.3c in the year-earlier period. The results are expected on August 5.
SOUTH Africa’s largest cellphone operator, Vodacom, said domestic service revenue totalled R11.4-million for the June quarter‚ a decline of 2% from the previous comparable period, as a result of new mobile termination rates.
KUMBA Iron Ore said interim earnings fell 16%, mostly because of weaker prices. Earnings per share fell to R20.30 from R24.16 in the same period the previous year, mainly because iron ore export prices had fallen 17%.
THE inflation rate was unchanged at 6.6% in June, exceeding the Reserve Bank’s target for a third month. The median estimate of 28 economists surveyed by Bloomberg was 6.7%. Prices rose 0.3% in the month, said Stats SA.
THE multibillion-rand citrus industry faces another potential ban by the EU, South Africa’s and the industry’s largest trading partner, after citrus black spot disease was found in oranges originating in South Africa.
SOUTH Africa plans a radical shake-up of its land policy to limit foreign ownership and could submit legislation to parliament by December, said Land and Rural Development Minister Gugile Nkwinti.