Package maker Nampak has reported a strong six-month performance following the easing of Covid-19 restrictions across the countries it operates in.
The metals businesses were key contributors to Nampak’s performance, in the face of ongoing global supply chain challenges and high commodity prices. The group’s revenue grew by 24% to R8 billion, while its operating profit was up 26% to R668 million. Platinum Group Metals and chrome producer, Tharisa, declared a dividend on Thursday as it released its interim results.
He said Tharisa has simplified its corporate ownership structure by aligning its key BEE partners with the Company’s long-term value-creation strategy and took a step further to geographically diversify by acquiring a controlling interest in Karo Platinum, a tier-one asset on the Great Dyke in Zimbabwe. Grindrod Shipping has seen a"historically strong start" to 2022, as freight rates continue to climb amid supply chain disruptions.
The board said Engelbrecht's work experience and skills would stabilise the operations until a permanent appointment is made. A poor start to the year, specifically a strike at its snacks and treats division and a decline in volume at its bakeries has resulted in a decrease in food producer Tiger Brands’ earnings. In its results for the six months ended 31 March 2022, the Johannesburg-headquartered group said its headline earnings per share fell by 2% to 729 cents per share, from 721 in 2021.
"The market is moving its focus - and has been for the last month or so - from inflation concerns to growth concerns," said Ellen Hazen, of FL Putnam. "The Fed of course remains focused on inflation, but if inflation reads were to start to moderate, then Bostic has opened up the possibility of a Fed pause."
"Moving beyond mobility restrictions in short order is a pre-condition, but not a guarantee, for an Asia-led economic recovery."Shares slid worldwide on Tuesday as supply chain woes and surging costs hurt corporate earnings and slowed manufacturing output, while Treasury yields dipped as the weakness in equities revived a safe-haven bid for US government debt.
The US economy likely faces a sharp slowdown as the Federal Reserve hikes interest rates to stamp out inflation, according to David Petrosinelli, a senior trader at InspereX. On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.37%, the Nasdaq Composite dropped 3.33% and the S&P 500 lost 2.16% as it again headed toward a bear market.
The pivotal deal with the unit of Anglo American Plc could be signed this week and would be effective from July, said Jeff Mphahlele, general secretary for AMCU. About 163 000 workers in South Africa’s platinum industry have been pressing for a share of the record profits generated by a rally in metal prices. - BLOOMBERGFor the six months to end-March, Coronation Fund Managers saw its headline earnings fall 22% as its fee income and assets under management declined.
A strong rally on Wall Street, where the Dow closed 2.0 percent higher, did not carry over to Asia, and Beijing's announcement of a fresh raft of measures to stimulate the economy did little to calm nerves. "The lingering restrictions and lack of clarity on an exit strategy from the current Covid policy will likely dampen corporate and consumer confidence and hinder the release of pent-up demand," UBS economists including Tao Wang wrote in a research note, according to Bloomberg.
Later in the week, investors will be eyeing the minutes from the latest Federal Reserve rate-setting meeting for clues about further rate hikes aimed at reining in inflation."If inflation remains sticky and the Fed needs to be more aggressive, assets are not cheap enough yet -- in that world, more recession risk will need to be priced through lower earnings," said Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management.
On Monday, investors sold the dollar on hopes that loosening lockdowns in China could help global growth. "We see this as just a temporary correction for now. If we look at the main reasons why the dollar has been strengthening so much in recent months, we don't think that fundamental story has changed significantly over the past week," said MUFG analyst Lee Hardman.
Sentiment around China also helped. Shanghai is edging out of lockdown and an unexpectedly big rate cut in China last week was taken as a signal that authorities are going to provide support. The US dollar has soared this year. But with expectations for aggressive Federal Reserve interest rate hikes priced in, some analysts say further gains may be tougher from here.
Impala had hoped to acquire 100% of the company but its plans were thwarted after Northam Platinum last year acquired a 34.95% stake in the company for a premium price. In a trading update for the year to end-March, Alexforbes said its profit from continuing operations is expected to increase between 5% to 10% when compared to the R659 million reported for the previous year.
In the past six months to end-March, Equipment Eurasia grew its revenue by 11.8% to R5.7 billion thanks to"buoyant" mining activity and"excellent growth" in aftermarket revenue in Russia. This was offset by lower revenue generated from Mongolia due to supply chain challenges on the border of Mongolia and China, which was hit by a lockdown."This resulted in machine inventory being stuck at the border, unable to be shipped and sold to customers.
Wall Street ended the week essentially flat after the S&P 500 had briefly dipped into a bear market, with the index down about 19 percent from its January high. In Asian trade Monday, Tokyo climbed 1.3 percent while Hong Kong slipped 1.5 percent and Shanghai was down 0.5 percent. "Put another way, our economic forecasts and call on the are unchanged despite the change of national leadership."The invasion of Ukraine has shaken up the global market and the outlook for key producer Russia, which has been largely shunned by Western countries.The US dollar was headed for its worst week since early February versus major peers on Friday, as some of the heat faded from the currency's breakneck 10% surge.
The index, which tracks the dollar against six other major currencies, dipped 0.1% on the day to 102.82. Last Friday, it soared to the highest since January 2003 at 105.01. A recent build-up of long U.S. dollar positions could also weigh on the greenback, currency analysts at MUFG said in a note. The euro has also benefitted from the dollar's weakness, and was on track for a weekly gain of 1.7%. It was last broadly flat at $1.05875.
On Friday morning, China's central bank announced it would lower its five-year loan prime rate - a key interest rate governing how lenders base their mortgage rates - from 4.6 percent to 4.45 percent. A strong fiscal stimulus"is also expected" from the central government given persistent headwinds to growth, said Chaoping Zhu, a Shanghai-based global market strategist with JP Morgan Asset Management.
Richemont is in negotiations with luxury digital groups Farfetch and Alibaba Group about a global strategic partnership that will boost selling of luxury brands in China, and build ecommerce in the global luxury industry.
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