Business News Leaders

What would a Moody's downgrade mean for SA?

Business Day TV caught up with Jones Gondo from Nedbank Corporate and Investment Banking to take a look at what a Moody's downgrade would mean for the bond market, the rand and for inflation.

13 Nov 2019 1AM 6 min

Why Telkom is switching its focus to mobile

Telkom has released its interim results showing a near 36% plunge in interim profit due to a steep rise in finance costs mainly related to spend on the group's mobile business. The company's CEO, Sipho Maseko spoke to Business Day TV about the group's strategy moving forward.

12 Nov 2019 7AM 9 min

Rand heads into quieter period, what's next?

Well, bearish bets on the rand have subsided despite the country teetering on the brink of junk status with Moody's having changed the rating outlook from stable to negative. And we've had some analysts suggest that we are heading into a quieter period for the rand - at least relative…

12 Nov 2019 1AM 5 min

Aspen agrees to sell Japanese unit

Aspen has agreed to sell its Japanese business to a division of Norvatis in a bid to reduce its debt levels. The company's debt has been whittled down to nearly R40 billion from over R53 billion while the sale to Norvatis which is still subject to approval comes at a…

11 Nov 2019 1AM 5 min

Is Transet on the right track?

Transnet believes it’s on the right track. The state owned rail and ports utility says that it's addressed some of the concerns which were recently raised by Moody's. The ratings agency lowered its outlook for the company to negative citing worries about expenditure plans and the impact this would have…

11 Nov 2019 1AM 6 min

How Vodacom is adapting to the current trading environment

Vodacom has bounced back from the once-off hit related to its BEE transaction largely supported by the group's international portfolio where revenue grew nearly 16% offsetting a decline in revenue generated from its domestic market. The group plans to expand M-Pesa internationally along with its Financial Services and Digital Lifestyle…

11 Nov 2019 1AM 7 min

Business confidence languishes as SA faces difficult fiscal position

Business morale has plateaued according to the South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The body's BCI fell to 91.7 points in October mainly driven by lower imports and exports, rand depreciation and load-shedding. Business Day TV spoke to Richard Downing from Sacci for more detail.

8 Nov 2019 1AM 6 min

Richard Branson on global investment shifts

Richard Branson's Virgin Atlantic hosted an event under the banner 'Business is an adventure' in partnership with Investec today - and, looking at the shifts we're seeing globally on the political and economic fronts, I caught up with Richard and started off by asking him how he's navigating the turbulent…

7 Nov 2019 1AM 10 min

Dis-Chem outlines expansion strategy

Dis-Chem's reported a 39% plunge in half-year earnings, partly due to strike-related costs. The pharmacy group says this is the last set of results that will be impacted by the industrial action, and that it is now focused on gaining market share. CFO Rui Morais spoke to Business Day TV…

7 Nov 2019 1AM 6 min

Is a downgrade to junk inevitable for SA?

Moody's has revised South Africa's outlook to negative from stable while affirming the country's rating level at Baa3. The move cheered the market with an initial rally in the rand but looking at the detail of the Moody's report it shows that a lot of work lies ahead for South…

6 Nov 2019 1AM 7 min

The investment case for food delivery app businesses

According to a report by Allied Market Research - the global food delivery market is expected to grow by over $16 billion by 2023. And back here at home we've had Naspers' subsidiary Prosus fight for its share of the pie as it made a bid for British online food…

6 Nov 2019 1AM 5 min

Brics bank pledges loans worth R23bn

Day two of President Cyril Ramaphosa's investment summit has wrapped up and thus far, nearly R55 billion in investment pledges have been made. The Brics Bank has pledged to loan R23 billion to projects in specified sectors. Director General of the bank, Monale Ratsoma joined Business Day TV to discuss…

6 Nov 2019 1AM 7 min

Seriti inks deal for South32's coal assets

Seriti Resources has reached a deal with South32 for the miner's coal assets. The agreement stipulates that Seriti will provide South32 with an upfront payment of R100 million and 49% of the free cash flow from the assets until March 2024. That component of the deal will however be capped…

6 Nov 2019 1AM 6 min

Can the rand's rally be sustained?

The rand has been given a boost following Moody's decision to not downgrade South Africa's credit rating to junk status even though the rating agency lowered SA's outlook to negative. Business Day TV spoke to RMB senior trader Marc Viakovsky for more detail.

5 Nov 2019 1AM 5 min

Manufacturing data improves

South Africa's business activity in the broader manufacturing sector rose in October, hitting 48.1 points from a revised 45.1 in the previous month. The rise in the headline index was driven by improvements in the business activity and new sales orders indices. Economist at Absa Miyelani Maluleke joins Business Day…

1 Nov 2019 2AM 6 min

Afrimat says diversification is paying off as dividend almost doubles

Afrimat's diversification strategy is yielding results. The building materials and industrial minerals group has reported a 19% jump in interim revenue and a 56.9% surge in operating profit. This allowed the group to almost double its dividend to 36 cents. Business Day TV caught up with the company's CEO Andries…

31 Oct 2019 2AM 4 min

How to find growth in a low growth environment

The IMF's latest global economic outlook, took a bearish turn, with it forecasting the slowest pace of growth since the 2008-2009 financial crisis for this year. And current political spats and tensions are certainly doing no favour - bringing with them a lack of visibility as far as where global…

31 Oct 2019 2AM 7 min

Are e-tolls here to stay?

Speaking in his medium-term budget policy statement, Mboweni said that after considering a number of issues, it was decided that government would remain committed to a 'user-pay' model, showing support for the e-tolling system. He said that South African motorists needed to leave behind the culture of non-compliance, again, imploring…

31 Oct 2019 2AM 8 min

SA's jobless rate continues to climb

South Africa's unemployment rate reached 29.1% in the third quarter climbing to its highest level in over a decade. The expanded unemployment rate, which includes discouraged job seekers, came in at 38.5%. Business Day TV sat down with Stanlib's chief economist Kevin Lings to discuss some of the factors that…

29 Oct 2019 2AM 8 min

Gordhan presents long-awaited plan to rescue Eskom

Public enterprises minister Pravin Gordhan has delivered his proposal on turning Eskom around and after detailing the SOEs numerous failures, he's asserted that in order to effectively revive the utility an entirely new business model would need to be implemented. Business Day TV spoke to Gordhan for more detail.

29 Oct 2019 2AM 8 min