Business Report | 2013/01/10 @ 12:41:00

FNB property analyst JOHN LOOS today said 2012 was a slightly better year overall than 2011 in terms of house price performance, but weak economic conditions suggest that 2013 average house price growth may be slightly weaker. According to the FNB House Price Index, the average house price for the entire 2012 rose by 5% y/y. This was a slight improvement on the average growth of 3.3% measured in 2011. In real terms, when adjusting prices for CPI, 2012 continued to show mild real house price decline to the tune of -0.6%, which was a lesser decline that the real decline of -1.7% in 2011. The average price of homes transacted was R845 106 for 2012, up from R804 536 in 2011. This news brief represents a summary of the original article.

Fin24.com | 2013/01/10 @ 10:49:00

The latest ADCORP Employment Index shows that the mining and manufacturing sectors lost 15 000 jobs in Dec., while overall employment edged up by a marginal 0.8%. The actual overall number of jobs grew by 12 556 in mining, but permanent jobs continued to decline. In the last four months of 2012, the local economy added 125 029 jobs, reversing the decline of the first eight months of the year. Permanent jobs declined by 5 542 in Dec., while temporary jobs increased by 9 074 in the same month. The unofficial sector grew strongly, creating 9 024 jobs. SA's primary and secondary sectors continued to shed jobs. Tertiary sectors gained 17 000 jobs. The strongest employment growth was observed in transport (12.7%), wholesale and retail trade (3.4%) and construction (4.7%). ADCORP revealed that from 2000 to 2012, the number of permanent jobs declined by 1.9m, while the number of temporary jobs increased by 2.6m. This news brief represents a summary of the original article.

Business Report | 2013/01/10 @ 10:49:00

MASSMART HOLDINGS today said total group sales for the 26 weeks ended Dec. 23 increased to R36.1bn, representing 14.6% growth y/y, with year-to-date sales inflation estimated at 3.7%. Comparable store sales increased by 7.3%. MASSMART's results for the period will be released on Feb. 28. This news brief represents a summary of the original article.

Fin24.com | 2013/01/10 @ 10:35:00

ARCELORMITTAL raised a bigger-than-expected $4bn in a share and convertible notes offering, the company said today. The steel producer had forecast that the offer would raise $3.5bn. ARCELORMITTAL issued $2.25bn in convertible notes at a 6% annual coupon. That compared with $1.75bn it raised by selling shares at $16.75 apiece, a 4.4% discount to the price they closed at in the US on Tuesday, the day before the offer was announced. This news brief represents a summary of the original article.

Fin24.com | 2013/01/10 @ 10:35:00

SIBANYE GOLD is expected to be listed on the JSE and NYSE on Feb. 11, GOLD FIELDS said today. SIBANYE, a wholly-owned subsidiary of GOLD FIELDS, will be listed on the main board of the JSE in the Gold Mining sector with the share code SGL, and is expected to be listed on the NYSE under the symbol SBGL. Following the listing, GOLD FIELDS will on Feb. 18 unbundle its interest in SIBANYE GOLD to shareholders. Each shareholder will receive one SIBANYE share for each GOLD FIELDS share, or one SIBANYE ADR for every four GOLD FIELDS ADRs. This news brief represents a summary of the original article.

Fin24.com | 2013/01/10 @ 10:34:00

There is speculation that the plain tobacco packaging rule could come to SA following the Australian government's decision to implement the law. Australia's Tobacco Plain Packaging Act 2011, which came into effect on Dec. 1 2012, requires all cigarette brands to be sold in identical olive green packs featuring graphic health warnings. The health warnings must cover 75% of the front of the pack, and 90% of the back. The brand name, without logo, and the variant may appear on the pack, but only in very small print. JAPAN TOBACCO INTERNATIONAL and BRITISH AMERICAN TOBACCO challenged the legislation, arguing that it was an unlawful expropriation of their intellectual property but the Australian High Court held that the legislation was legal. Norway, New Zealand and Uruguay have indicated that they support the Australian legislation, while New Zealand has said it will follow Australia's lead and pass plain packaging legislation. The South African government has also made clear that it wishes to introduce similar legislation. The South African tobacco industry has already given a strong indication that it will challenge any such legislation in the Constitutional Court. This news brief represents a summary of the original article.

Moneyweb.co.za | 2013/01/10 @ 10:34:00

PSG FINANCIAL SERVICES, a unit of PSG GROUP, has sold just less than 4% of its holding in CAPITEC, reducing its shareholding from 32.2% to 28.5%. PSG sold the shares in order to settle some of the debt it incurred when it followed its rights in terms of CAPITEC's Nov. 2012 rights offer. CAPITEC raised R2.3bn via the issue. PSG FINANCIAL provided CAPITEC with an irrevocable undertaking to the value of R724m to take up its share of the rights offer, but had to raise external funding in order to do so. PSG acquired the additional shares at R160 apiece, and sold them this week at roughly R195/share. PSG says it has no intention to sell any more CAPITEC shares. This news brief represents a summary of the original article.