Navara pick-up for Nissan Rosslyn as IMF cuts SA growth outlook

THE South African arm of Nissan will spend R3bn equipping its local plant to build the Japanese carmaker’s new Navara model, the unit’s boss said. Capacity at Nissan’s plant in Rosslyn, near Pretoria, will increase by 30,000 units in the first phase, said Mike Whitfield, MD at Nissan SA, while the plant’s permanent headcount will increase by 400.

PREMIER Fishing & Brands reported a 200% increase in operating profit, with customers in the US and Europe accounting for the majority of sales.

The group reported an interim revenue increase of 55% and a rise in gross profit of 72% in the six months to end-February.

SA’S largest non-food retailer, Edcon, which is battling to save 40,000 direct jobs because of bad strategic decisions and mounting competition from newer retailers, has now managed to sign a rental savings deal with a fifth of its landlords.

THE IMF has taken a grim view on SA’s growth outlook, cutting growth forecasts to 1.2% from 1.4% for 2019 and 1.5% from 1.7% for 2020. It kept growth forecasts unchanged in January, but had revised down significantly in October 2018. This is below the Treasury’s forecast of 1.5% for 2019 and the Reserve Bank’s projection of 1.6%.

INVESTMENT banking giant Credit Suisse says Richemont’s shares are overvalued considering how much capital the luxury-goods company will need to pour into its operations. The Swiss bank downgraded its equity to “underperform” from “neutral”, and lowered its price target to CHF64 (R891) from CHF73 (R1,016), Bloomberg reported.

SA has detected an outbreak of African swine fever on a farm in North West, the Paris-based World Organisation for Animal Health said, citing a South African agriculture ministry report.