Bigger budget deficit, lower PPI

PRODUCER price inflation slowed to 3.5% year on year last month, from 5.8% in December, Stats SA data showed. Month on month, prices at the factory gate were down 1.1% after falling 0.2% in December. SHOPRITE posted a slightly faster first-half profit growth as debtladen consumers took advantage of lower fuel prices and a price war between supermarket chains. Diluted headline earnings a share rose 8.6% to 370.2c. IMPALA Platinum will revamp its Rustenburg mines to boost productivity, but staffing levels will stay the same at the centre of often violent labour unrest, CEO Terence Goodlace said. GDP expanded by an annualised 4.1% in the last quarter of 2014 compared with a revised 2.1% in Q3, Stats SA said. It added 1.3% on an unadjusted year-onyear basis against revised growth of 1.6% the previous quarter. ANGLO-South African financial services firm Old Mutual, which has a majority stake in Nedbank, said operating profit for 2014 rose 16% to £1.6-billion, helped by improving economic growth in Britain and the US. SOUTH Africa expects a budget deficit of 3.9% of GDP for the 2015-16 financial year, wider than its 3.6% forecast in October last year as weak economic growth keeps revenues low, said Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene. OFFSHORE investors sold a net R3.5-billion worth of South African stocks in the week ended February 20 and close to a net R5-billion in South African bonds, according to data from the JSE. INSURER Liberty Holdings posted a 3% decline in full-year profit, reflecting a contraction in earnings from its shareholder investment portfolio. BEE normalised headline earnings per share fell to 1 403.3c from 1 439.6c. FINANCIAL services group MMI Holdings said its interim headline earnings would drop as much as 30% following the impact of investment markets. It saw basic and diluted headline earnings per share at 80c to 95c, it said. RESTAURANT chain Spur Corporation posted a 28.2% decline in interim headline earnings per share to 61.15c following a sharebased payment expense of R32.96million relating to its BBBEE deal with Grand Parade Investments.