Financial News Daily – Friday Wrap
South Africa: economic, financial and business highlights
The week was all about banks and miners printing money, while retail and property dealt with boardroom drama and aggressive expansion.
Banks and markets post solid gains
- Absa Group: Headline earnings up 8% to R12.8bn, revenue up 4% to R58.8bn, ROE at 15%. Executives are juggling credit discipline against faster rate cuts in Africa, while eyeing more Nigeria growth.
- Nedbank: H1 headline earnings R8.4bn (flat YoY, up 12% constant-currency post-Ecobank), interim dividend 1,052 cents. Management must balance rising credit losses with scaling AI automation that’s already unlocked R375m in annualised value.
Mining giants bounce back
- AngloGold Ashanti: Revenue surges to USD6.3bn, profit more than doubles to USD2.3bn. Leadership must decide how aggressively to reinvest record free cash flow into growth vs. debt reduction.
- Glencore: Revenue USD174.4bn, turnaround to USD4.4bn attributable income from a USD655m loss prior. Executives are weighing commodity-cycle positioning carefully.
- Anglo American: Agrees to sell Australian steelmaking coal business to Dhilmar for up to $3.88bn (R64–67bn). Tough call: sequencing debt reduction, portfolio simplification, and the pending Teck merger without overpaying for integration risk.
Retail and property shake-ups (the real action this week)
- Spur Corporation: This week, Spur reported a 4.1% rise in group turnover to R2.4bn for the quarter ended 30 June 2026, with South African same-store sales up 3.2% and a net increase of 14 restaurants across the group. Management highlighted ongoing cost pressures and the need to support franchisees amid a “challenging consumer environment”, while continuing to lean on value offers and digital channels to drive traffic.
- Shoprite quietly stole the show by opening 262 net new stores in its 2026 financial year – more than Pick n Pay, Woolworths, and SPAR combined in their latest periods. That aggressive expansion is putting serious pressure on rivals to rethink footprints.
- Balwin Properties: Shareholders approved a PIC-led buyout and delisting at R4.35 per share (R2.26bn), with 98.48% in favour. Management now transitions to private ownership, away from public-market pressures.
Other notable moves
- Astral Foods: Declared a 427% increase in interim dividend to 1,160 cents, driven by strong poultry demand. Management must decide how much to reinvest in capacity and biosecurity.
- WeBuyCars: H1 revenue up 7.8% to R14.2bn but margin pressure from used-car deflation. Executives face the delicate task of protecting volumes without eroding profitability further.
Economic backdrop
- Inflation eased to 4.3% in July (from 5%), giving the SARB breathing room to hold rates at 7%. But diesel and petrol hikes loom for September.
- Business insolvencies jumped 134% month-on-month in July, while unemployment hit a four-year high of 33.6% in Q2. Mixed signals all round.
International news in brief
- Perplexity AI reportedly offered to buy Chrome from Google for $34.5bn in cash – a bold move that would reshape search and shopping.
- The US national debt has surged past 40 trillion by month-end – about $120,000 per American.
Before you go
Musician birthdays (rock emphasis) — 21 August
- Joe Strummer (1952) – The Clash vocalist/guitarist.
- Glenn Hughes (1951) – Deep Purple & Black Sabbath bassist/vocalist.
- Serj Tankian (1967) – System of a Down vocalist.
- Liam Howlett (1971) – The Prodigy founder/keyboardist.
Also nearby: Robert Plant (Led Zeppelin) – 20 August.
Author birthdays — 21 August
- Jules Michelet (1798) – French historian who coined “Renaissance”.
- Robert Stone (1937) – National Book Award winner (Dog Soldiers).
- Denise Mina (1966) – Scottish crime writer.
- Sharon Draper (1948) – five-time Coretta Scott King Award-winning children’s author.
Also nearby: H.P. Lovecraft (20 Aug) and Ray Bradbury (22 Aug).
A couple of light jokes
- Why don’t skeletons fight each other? They don’t have the guts.
- I used to play piano by ear, but now I use my hands.
- What do you call a fake noodle? An impasta.
Weird and wonderful facts
- Bananas are technically berries – but strawberries aren’t. Botanically, a berry has seeds inside the flesh, and bananas fit the bill perfectly.
- Your stomach gets a new lining every 3 to 4 days – otherwise, its own acid would digest it. You’re basically wearing a temporary internal raincoat.
- A group of flamingos is called a “flamboyance” – which is frankly the most accurate collective noun ever coined.
- The Eiffel Tower grows about 6 inches (15 cm) in summer due to thermal expansion of the iron – it shrinks back in winter.
Deep thought
The heaviest burden is not what we carry in our hands, but what we refuse to set down in our hearts.
Lighthearted quiz question
I have cities, but no houses. I have mountains, but no trees. I have water, but no fish. What am I?
Quiz answer: A map.
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