Hits & Misses

Economic growth slows less than expected, diamonds lose shine

SA’S

economic growth slowed less than expected in the fourth quarter as domestic fixed investment slumped. Annualised growth in GDP eased to 1.4% from a revised 2.6% in the prior three months, Stats SA said. The median estimate of economists surveyed by Bloomberg was for growth of 1.2%. The economy grew 0.8% in 2018 against a revised 1.4% in the prior year.

FREIGHT

and financial services group Grindrod has resumed dividend payments to shareholders after returning to profit in the year ended December. It made a net profit after tax, including income from its now-separated shipping business and its for-sale rail-leasing division, of R2.9bn, from a loss of R508m previously.

NEDBANK

Group says it expects a better year for lending growth at its corporate and investment banking unit after a surge in trading and commission income helped the division shrug off a sluggish economy.

RCL

Foods, the owner of the Rainbow, Nola, Selati and Sunbake brands, bemoaned the influx of cheap chicken and sugar imports, which it said weighed heavily on its performance in the six months to December. Headline earnings dropped 26.3% to R475.1m. Margins across the group were also dented by higher commodity and transport costs, it said.

AFROX,

a supplier of gases and welding products, more than halved its final dividend for the year to endDecember as earnings declined, partly due to higher costs. The group said it would pay a final dividend of 25c a share, from 54c a year earlier, bringing total dividends for the year to 77c, from 100c previously.

DE BEERS,

the largest source of rough diamonds by value, reported the lowest level of rough diamond sales for February since it started releasing the data in 2016, achieving $490m.