Financial News Daily – Friday Wrap

South Africa: economic, financial and business highlights

Capitec posts strong earnings, but shares slip: Capitec reported headline earnings of R9.5 billion for the six months to 31 August, up 19% year on year. Headline earnings per share rose 18.7% to 8,262 cents. The shares fell 1.79% on Wednesday after the results, despite the strong performance.

Balwin Properties heads for delisting: The housing developer is expected to be delisted from the JSE and A2X on 20 October following the proposed buyout by Bidco. If the timetable holds, it will end Balwin’s 11-year run as a listed company.

Omnia faces R21.8 billion buyout: Solar SA Investments has made a firm intention offer for all of Omnia’s shares in an all-cash transaction valuing the chemicals and agriculture group at R21.8 billion. The proposed transaction would take Omnia private.

Transnet ports move towards separation: Cabinet has supported the separation of the Transnet National Ports Authority into a stand-alone company owned directly by the state. It also wants TNPA to investigate the feasibility of bringing in a minority equity partner from a development finance institution, while retaining strategic state ownership and control of port infrastructure.

African Bank considers major restructuring: The bank is consulting with organised labour over a restructuring that could affect up to 1,200 employees and lead to the closure of as many as 90 branches. The process follows a R624 million loss for the six months to March 2026.

Wesizwe restructures Bakubung mine: Wesizwe Platinum has completed a Section 189A consultation process at its Bakubung Platinum Mine following a decision to change its development strategy. The restructuring is intended to reduce the number of employees required under the revised operating plan.

Petra Diamonds launches strategic review: Petra Diamonds has begun a strategic review as it looks for ways to address near-term liquidity needs. The review includes the possibility of selling assets, although the company has not said that all its mines are being put up for sale.

Sibanye steps up mechanisation: Sibanye-Stillwater has ordered underground mining equipment from Epiroc for its Siphumelele shaft in Rustenburg as part of a project to mechanise the platinum operation. Delivery is expected to begin in the fourth quarter.

Airports face a major investment programme: Airports Company South Africa has allocated R21.7 billion to infrastructure projects across its airport network over the next five years, including capacity expansion and refurbishment.

Gautrain concession includes major Alstom investment: Alstom’s role in the new Gautrain concession has a cumulative contract value of €800 million over 15 years, covering rail-system modernisation and refurbishment as well as related engineering and construction work.

Economic backdrop

Rand: The rand was trading at about R16.68 to the US dollar on Friday morning.

Inflation: Headline consumer inflation rose to 4.4% in August from 4.3% in July.

Interest rates: The Reserve Bank raised the repo rate by 25 basis points to 7.25%, effective from 25 September. The prime lending rate is now 10.75%.

Fuel: Rising international oil prices and a weaker rand have pushed October fuel-price estimates sharply higher, with mid-September calculations indicating that inland 95 petrol could exceed R29 a litre if the under-recovery continued.

Manufacturing: The Absa Purchasing Managers’ Index rose 4.9 points to 50.7 in September, moving back above the 50-point level that separates expansion from contraction.

Unemployment: South Africa’s official unemployment rate rose from 32.7% in the first quarter to 33.6% in the second quarter, with the number of unemployed people reaching about 8.5 million.

International news in brief

Bond yields surge: Global bond markets came under renewed pressure this week. The US 10-year Treasury yield climbed above 5.3%, while the 30-year yield moved above 5.67%, levels not seen for more than two decades. Investors have been concerned about inflation, government borrowing and higher oil prices.

Anthropic secures up to $42 billion in Broadcom financing: AI company Anthropic has agreed to financing of up to $42 billion from Broadcom to support the leasing of its chips. The arrangement forms part of Anthropic’s huge planned expansion of computing capacity.

Birthdays

Musicians

Don McLean (1945) — American singer-songwriter, best known for American Pie.

Mike Rutherford (1950) — Co-founder, bassist and guitarist of Genesis and Mike + The Mechanics.

Sting (1951) — Former frontman of The Police and solo artist behind Every Breath You Take and Fragile.

Jim Root (1971) — Guitarist for Slipknot.

Authors

Wallace Stevens (1879–1955) — Pulitzer Prize-winning American modernist poet, best known for Harmonium.

Graham Greene (1904–1991) — English novelist whose works include The End of the Affair and The Quiet American.

Light jokes

I’m afraid for the calendar. Its days are numbered.

I only know 25 letters of the alphabet. I don’t know y.

I’m on a seafood diet. I see food and I eat it.

Weird and wonderful facts

Cockroach milk: Research into the nutrient-rich protein crystals produced by the Pacific beetle cockroach Diploptera punctata has won the 2026 Ig Nobel Prize for Chemistry. The crystals contain more than three times the energy of an equivalent mass of dairy milk.

Pigeons have a surprising navigation aid: Research published in Science suggests that iron-rich immune cells in pigeons’ livers may help them sense the Earth’s magnetic field, particularly when the sun is obscured.

Taylor Swift becomes a genus: Four newly described Australian plant-feeding insect species have been named after Taylor Swift and her music. They belong to a new genus called Swiftiephylus.

Quiz question

In Dolly Parton’s Jolene, what colour are Jolene’s locks of hair?

Answer: Auburn.

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