Hits&Misses

Economic growth up but Tiger Brands takes a tumble

ECONOMIC growth accelerated for the first time in four years in 2017, with continued strong recovery in agriculture, giving weight to Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene’s statements that growth forecasts will probably be revised upwards. GDP grew at a rate of 3.1% in the fourth quarter, with the rate for the full year coming out at 1.3%, beating the Treasury’s estimate of 1% in February’s budget.

BUSINESS confidence moderated slightly from January’s high levels, though it maintained its positive momentum. Sacci’s business confidence index pulled back slightly in February — by 0.8 index points — to 98.9. It rose by 3.4 index points compared with February 2017.

THE City of Cape Town said that if there was no rainfall, “Day Zero“— when the taps are predicted to run dry — would be pushed back to August 27 from July 9, and that the bullet could be dodged completely this year. TIGER Brands shares tumbled after the company’s processed meat was identified as a source of the listeriosis outbreak that has killed 180 people and infected about 1 000. The company was ordered to recall certain Enterprisebrand ready-to-eat items and suspended operations at two plants.

THE problems at Eskom had run for too long and were too big and too deep for any hope of a quick fix, new chairman Jabu Mabuza told business leaders at a conference on the future of South Africa hosted by Bloomberg in Cape Town.

FAMOUS Brands’ share price fell as much as 12% before paring losses after the group warned it would report impairments of between R241-million and R322-million in its annual results. This would include impairments of R59-million to R78million at UK-based Gourmet Burger Kitchen, with earnings per share expected to decline by more than 20%, it said.