Millions wasted but Transnet steams ahead

LOGISTICS group Transnet raised R12-billion through a syndicated loan to fund part of a spending plan on new trains and pipelines, it said. The money would be raised from several banks that include Nedbank, Bank of China and Barclays Africa Group. PRIVATE-hospital operator Netcare said full-year earnings rose 13% as it added more beds in its home market and attracted a higher number of patients in the UK. Adjusted earnings per share excluding one-time items were R1.89. SOUTH Africa’s largest insurer, Sanlam, said it would buy nearly one third of Morocco’s Saham Finances for $375-million as part of a strategy to look for new streams of income to offset slowing growth at home. THE International Finance Corporation, a unit of the World Bank, issued its first South African randdenominated green bond, raising about $71-million for climate-friendly investments in emerging markets. THE auditor-general, Kimi Makwetu, once again laid bare the extent of wasteful and irregular spending by the state after reporting that it lost R936million in the 2014-15 financial year to fruitless and wasteful expenditure, from R1.2-billion the previous year. THE Reserve Bank’s leading business cycle indicator fell 0.3% month on month in September, mainly due to a drop in job advertisements and new car sales. The indicator collates a range of data to gauge the outlook for the economy. FERTILISER and explosives maker Omnia Holdings said first-half profit fell 18% after a deterioration in its mining operations. Net income dropped to R331-million from R404-million a year earlier, the company said. PRODUCER inflation increased to 4.2% year on year in October from 3.6% in September, Stats SA data showed. On a month-on-month basis, prices at the factory gate were up 0.9% compared with a 0.3% rise the previous month.