Daily Report 08 November 2022

SA Company News:
The Johannesburg Stock Exchange All-Share Index closed 0.2% higher at the 69 439 level.
The board of Gold Fields said that they will not change its offer for Yamana Gold after a surprise rival bid from Agnico Eagle. Under the offer, Yamana shareholders would receive $1.0406 in cash, 0.0376 of an Agnico share and 0.1598 of a Pan American share for each share held. Analysts said that if Gold Fields matches the Agnico/Pan American offer, it would raise the risk the company would not win the necessary backing of 75% of shareholders.
Raubex Group Limited reported interim results for the six months ended 31 August 2022. Revenue increased 23.2% to R7.38 billion (H1 2022: R5.99 billion), headline earnings per share increased 16.1% to 159.0 cents per share (H1 2022: 137.0 cents per share) and declared an interim dividend of 53 cents per share. Raubex upped its interim dividend by more than one-tenth as its revenue increased as a result of increased activity on the Sanral projects in KwaZulu-Natal, the Beitbridge Border Post project, and the chrome producer Bauba Resources it acquired recently.
In a trading update from MultiChoice, the company said that it expects to report a trading profit that could be as much as 5% or R300m higher for the first half to September from the previous first half’s R6bn. The group expects core headline earnings per share (HEPS) for the period to be 1% – 5% or 5c – 23c higher than the 46c previously. Multichoice warned that with some liabilities denominated in dollars, the drop in the value of the rand increases the amount the company must pay for certain expenses in local currency.
Delta Property Fund said it had earmarked 26 properties for disposals with a market value of R787 million to pay off debt. CEO Siyabonga Mbanjwa said that disposing of noncore assets and optimising the property portfolio is part of the company’s turnaround strategy.

SA Economy:
The Department of Mineral Resources and Energy has published its latest weekly fuel price forecast, showing a big hike in petrol and diesel prices expected to hit in December. According to the forecast, the current price changes are on the cards for December 2022.Petrol 93 and 95 an increase of R1.25 per litre, Diesel 0.05%: increase of 60 cents per litre and Diesel 0.005%: increase of 69 cents per litre.
South Africa and its investment partners launched an $8.5 billion plan to shift from coal toward green energy at the COP27 climate summit in Egypt. President Cyril Ramaphosa pushed for wealthy nations to fulfil their obligations to support poorer countries in a way that does not worsen their debt burdens.

Global Economy:
Retail sales in the United Kingdom increased by 1.2% on a like-for-like basis in October 2022 from a year ago, slowing from September’s 1.8% gain as consumers continued to contend with the rising cost of living.
Growing expectations of a split government after the U.S. midterm elections taking place today are supporting U.S. shares, while Asian markets cling onto hopes that China will relax its strict pandemic curbs.
Markets also await US Consumer Price Inflation (CPI) due on Thursday that could influence the size of the Federal Reserve’s interest rate hike in December.

Global Company:
The FTSE 100 closed 0.48% lower at 7 299, pressured by losses in the energy and financials shares.
The Hang Seng Index is lower by 0.63% to 16 493.
In China, the Shanghai Composite is down 0.79% to 3 053, consolidating after recent gains as investors continued to watch for signs from China on whether it is considering dialing back its zero-Covid policy.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose by 1.31% to 32 827, while the S&P 500 climbed 0.96% to 3 806.
Meta Platforms shares rose 5.9% after the Wall Street Journal reported that Facebook’s owner was set to start announcing significant numbers of layoffs, likely starting tomorrow.
Berkshire Hathaway shares rose 1% after the company posted a 20% jump in operating earnings during the third quarter and bought back another $1 billion in stock.

Commodities:
Gold is up 0.08% to $1 672/oz, while Platinum is higher by 1.08% to $985.60/oz.
Brent crude was 0.29% lower at $97.45 a barrel.

Currencies:
The rand traded at R17.79 against the US Dollar, R20.43 against British Pound and R17.78 against the Euro.
The Euro is slightly firmer against the US Dollar to trade at $1.0004.