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South African Airways May Test State Guarantees, Opposition Says

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – South African Airways, the country’s state-owned airline, may be close to calling in 19.1 billion rand ($1.5 billion) in government debt guarantees after missing loan repayment dates, according to the Democratic Alliance, an opposition political party. The airline, which hasn’t made a profit since 2011, has 8.9 billion rand of debt payable in the 2018 fiscal year, the DA said, citing data from parliament’s Standing Committee on Finance. SAA…

Rand Tumbles as South Africa Seeks Higher Black Mine Ownership

Posted on by The Editorial Team

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – The rand weakened the most in more than two months as South Africa said local mines should be at least 30 percent owned by black people in an effort to redress economic imbalances caused by the apartheid system. The currency fell as much as 1.9 percent against the dollar, the most since March 28, to be the biggest decliner among 31 major and emerging-market currencies tracked by Bloomberg. The…

Alexander Forbes Targets 12% Profit Growth Over Next Five Years

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JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – Alexander Forbes Group Holding Ltd., a South African provider of retirement, investment and insurance services, plans to as much as double the pace of profit growth over the next five years. The company is targeting an increase in operating profit of 10 percent to 12 percent until 2022, compared with average growth of 6 percent between 2013 and 2017, Chief Executive Officer Andrew Darfoor said in a presentation in Johannesburg on Wednesday….

PPC Reports Loss on Higher Finance Costs, Low Domestic Prices

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JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – PPC Limited reported a full-year loss of 295 million rand ($22.9 million) as the South African cement maker incurred higher finance costs following the downgrade of the company’s debt and battled persistent low prices in its home market. Earnings per share excluding one-time items slumped 93 percent to 7 cents a share, the Johannesburg-based company said in a statement on Wednesday. Sales rose 5 percent to 9.6 billion rand, while capacity increased…

Datatec Shares Soar by a Record After $830 Million Asset Sale

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JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – Datatec Limited shares jumped by the most on record after the South African IT services company agreed to sell the North and Latin American operations of its Westcon-Comstor business for as much as $800 million. Synnex Corporation of the U.S. will take over the operations and buy a 10 percent stake in the rest of the Westcon-Comstor division for $30 million, Johannesburg-based Datatec said in a statement on Tuesday. The deal will…

Barclays Rejected Zimbabwe Management-Buyout Bid in Favor of FMB

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JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – An offer for Barclays Plc’s Zimbabwe unit by its management and backed by funds from the country’s social security agency lost out to Malawi’s First Merchant Bank Ltd. It’s a “shame” that Barclays Bank of Zimbabwe Ltd. didn’t stay with local investors, National Social Security Authority Chairman Robin Vela said by phone from the capital, Harare, on Monday, confirming that the agency was willing to fund the deal. “Barclays…

Barclays Africa Purchase Said to Spur PIC Into Selling Sappi

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JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – The Public Investment Corp. sold a stake in Sappi Ltd., the world’s biggest maker of dissolving wood pulp, to help fund its purchase of shares in Barclays Africa Group Ltd., according to a person familiar with the matter. Africa’s biggest money manager has also sold shares in other companies to help it finance the Barclays Africa stake acquisition, said the person, who asked not to be named because the transactions are still confidential….

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