Mining shrinks, business morale drops and McKinsey is contrite

MCKINSEY & Co apologised to South Africa again over how business was handled with Eskom, saying it overcharged the utility. The consultancy admitted in October to having failed to follow its own procedures when it worked alongside Trillian, a business linked to the Gupta family, on the Eskom deal.

BARCLAYS Africa changed its name back to Absa in a rebranding aimed at underlining its South African roots as Britain’s Barclays gradually retreats from Africa. The name change comes almost a year after Barclays sold most of its controlling stake in Absa, South Africa’s third-largest lender.

THE largest listed realestate company in South Africa, Growthpoint Properties, will take up a secondary listing on the new A2X Markets exchange on

Wednesday. It will be the first property company to take up a secondary listing on A2X and the 10th to join the exchange.

GOLD output in South Africa in May declined the most since February 2017. Production dropped 16.2% from a year earlier, compared with a revised 5.8% contraction in April, Stats SA said — an eighth successive month of decreases. Total mining output shrank for a third month, dropping 2.6% from a year earlier compared with a revised 4.4% retreat in April.

THE recent rally in the rand has not been enough to stem a slide in business confidence, which fell again in June, stoking fears that the economy continued to underperform in the second quarter. The South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s business confidence index slipped from 94 in May to 93.7 — the worst reading in eight months.

GOLD Brands has begun to sell off the family silver in a desperate attempt to raise money. It has decided to offload its Black Steer franchise business to Laudian for R3.2-million.