Retail uptick, but AG bleak on expenditure

RETAIL sales grew 1.4% year on year in September following a revised 0% growth in August, Stats SA data showed. On a month-on-month basis, sales grew 0.6%, and were up 0.9% in the three months to September compared with the same period last year. TONGAAT Hulett posted a 3.7% rise in half-year profit, citing higher international prices and effective import protection. The sugar producer said headline earnings per share rose to 546.7c from 527.4c in the same period last year. INVESTEC reported a 20% rise in half-year profit, buoyed by a strong showing by its asset management and wealth arm. The company, also listed in London, said diluted headline earnings per share totalled 23.8p against 20p a year earlier. SOUTH African private hospital group Life Healthcare had agreed to pay up to R10.4-billion in cash for 95% of Britain’s Alliance Medical, a provider of molecular and diagnostic imaging services, it said. IRREGULAR expenditure has risen almost 40% since 2013-14 to R46.36billion‚ the auditor-general’s report on the audit outcomes of national and provincial departments showed, mainly due to noncompliance with supply chain management laws. SOUTH Africa’s biggest cellphone operator, Vodacom Group, reported flat half-year earnings, hurt by a one-off tax adjustment and currency effects. Headline earnings per share were unchanged year on year at 440c. NO-FRILLS retailer Mr Price said it expected low sales for the rest of the financial year after reporting its first decline in profit in 15 years. Diluted headline earnings per share fell to 351.2c from 406.8c in the same period last year. DIAMOND producer De Beers said sales at its most recent auction fell to the lowest level this year. The company sold $470-million (R6.7billion) of diamonds in the ninth cycle, compared with $494million at its previous offering.