Hits&Misses

Bank’s business cycle indicator up but inflation rate also rises

THE Reserve Bank’s composite leading business cycle indicator increased 2.7% month on month in June, rising for the first time since

March. The increase was largely supported by an improvement in the number of residential building plans approved and new passenger vehicles sold. The leading indicator shows a projection of SA’s economic growth cycle for the next 6-12 months.

PHARMACY group DisChem reported a surge in online sales due to Covid-19, saying the pandemic had brought forward an adaption by consumers to online retail. Online sales surged 344% in the 24 weeks to August 15, when the pandemic disrupted trading. Revenue grew 8.8% to R11.7bn, it said in a trading update.

IN a bid to crack down on corruption, SA published the names of all companies that won coronavirus-related government contracts, the first country on the continent to do so.

THE inflation rate rose more than expected and moved back into the Reserve Bank’s target range in July, ending its first stint below 3% in 15 years. Consumer prices rose 3.2% from a year earlier, compared with 2.2% in June, Stats SA said. That’s the biggest monthly jump since January 2016. Prices rose 1.3% in the month.

OLD Mutual swung to a first-half loss after measures to contain the pandemic dragged the economy deeper into recession, hindering its ability to generate sales. The insurer said it would post a net per-share loss of between R1.29 and R1.54 for the six months through June, against a year-earlier profit of R1.27.

A HEIGHTENED risk of load-shedding would haunt the economy for another year, Eskom CEO André de Ruyter said. Speaking in a webinar hosted by Nedgroup Investments, he said there would be an increased risk for another 12 months.