Hits&Misses

Less taxing to be a business but Curro learns tough lessons

THE

government signalled its intention to restructure the corporate income tax system over the medium term by broadening the base and reducing the rate. The intention is to encourage investment, improve

SA’s competitiveness and reduce the appeal of base erosion and profit shifting. The corporate tax rate has remained unchanged at 28% for more than a decade.

SHOPRITE,

owner of Checkers and Usave, gained market share in the half-year to endDecember, with store expansion helping it achieve almost doubledigit sales growth in its South African business.

FIRSTRAND’S

private banking division, one of the largest in the country, said the market for people earning more than R1.5m a year may be nearly one-third larger than previously thought. This implies there may be more opportunities in SA for asset managers and offshore banking and fiduciary specialists to cater to the needs of the well-heeled.

FACTORY

gate prices rose to their highest levels in six months in January, driven largely by fuel prices, according to data released by Stats SA. Producer price inflation increased 4.6% from a year before, slightly up on market expectations. A

Bloomberg poll of 10 economists’ expectations had pegged the rate to come in at 4.4% on an annual basis.

SA’S

largest private school group, Curro, will cut capital expenditure about 20% this year as it struggles to retain students in a weak economy. An economy that has hardly grown in the past 10 years, coupled with record low wage increases, has made it harder for the company — controlled by PSG Group — to enroll and retain new students.

SHARES

in Sasol fell to a 15-year low after the chemicals company reported a 74% plunge in half-year earnings and a spike in debt and decided to withhold its dividend.