Tax-free savings accounts with equity exposure Link March 5, 2015 News From March 1 this year, individual investors can invest up to R30 000 a year in tax-free savings accounts. While the capital investment will be capped at R500 000 over your lifetime, all proceeds earned (interest, dividends and capital growth) will be 100% tax-free. See a list of product providers and a summary of their plans in alphabetical order. 5 March
Oil falls more than 1 percent on dollar, supply concerns Link March 2, 2015 News Output from several OPEC countries may be recovering. Libya’s oil production has now recovered to more than 400,000 barrels per day (bpd), officials said. “Libyan production is up and Iraqi exports are on the rise,” said Tamas Varga, oil analyst at London brokerage PVM Oil Associates, saying crude markets were likely to fall further. 2 March
Which Global Beer Giant Is The Best Investment: SABMiller plc, Heineken N.V. Or Anheuser Busch Inbev SA? Link February 24, 2015 News SABMiller looks the one company that could give its shareholders an exceptional return from here, purely on the basis of a takeover bid. I’m not going to be buying SABMiller shares on the hope of a bid, but if I were already a shareholder, I think would be happy to stick with my investment. 24 Feb
SABMiller exit ignites takeover talk Link February 23, 2015 News The dramatic exit of SABMiller’s finance director, Jamie Wilson, which shocked company insiders and the investment community this week, could spur Anheuser-Busch InBev into making its long-expected move on its rival. Additional information disclosed with SABMiller’s statement on Wilson’s departure suggests his exit was not on amicable terms 23 Feb
Eskom: now for the really bad news Link February 20, 2015 News The head of one of South Africa’s largest business chambers, the Afrikaanse Handelsinstituut, says the government’s fixation with ideology and politics is steering the country to disaster – and nowhere is this more apparent than in the collapse of Eskom. At the meeting, Eskom CEO Tshediso Matona told them his parastatal needed an immediate R20-billion bailout to keep the lights on. 20 Feb
Burger King Brazilians mull audacious £75bn bid for Foster’s owner SABMiller Link February 16, 2015 News City sources said 3G Capital, a secretive investment firm run by several Brazilians, has been studying how it could buy SABMiller as part of a consortium of predators that could also include Anheuser-Busch InBev, maker of Budweiser and Stella Artois. Rumours have been rife in recent months that Anheuser-Busch InBev has been circling SABMiller. Teaming up with 3G could allow it to sidestep competition hurdles to a deal. 16 FEB
Why I’d Buy Diageo plc Over SABMiller plc After Director Buying Link February 10, 2015 News On the face of it, Diageo does not appear to offer good value for money. For instance, it has a price to earnings (P/E) ratio of 19.6 and, with the FTSE 100′s P/E ratio being 15.9, it seems to be overvalued on an absolute and relative basis. However, when you compare it to its nearest peer, SABMiller, it seems to make much more sense as an investment. For example, SABMiller trades on a P/E ratio of 22.7 and this is a full 16% higher than Diageo’s rating, which indicates that there is considerable scope for a narrowing of this valuation gap moving forward 10 FEB
Oil drops more than $1 after crashing on inventory concerns Link February 5, 2015 News Crude prices began to rise last week from near six-year lows, in part due to a reported downturn in U.S. rig activity that could eventually dampen rapid growth in shale oil production. “However, production from existing completed wells is currently unaffected and is contributing to consistent weekly stock builds,” analysts at BNP Paribas said in a note. “The resulting drop in demand for crude at refineries is likely to lead to further large crude inventory builds,” BNP Paribas said.
China retailers play poker in empty malls as shoppers go online Link February 4, 2015 News “Clashes between the old and new economies” will intensify, said Ouyang Rihui, the deputy dean at the Academy of Internet Economy, a research agency within the Central University of Finance and Economics in Beijing. He said the loss of retailers is just the beginning of the effect of technology on jobs. 4 Feb
January’s Market Volatility: Blip or Omen? Link February 2, 2015 News January was an unusual and exciting month for financial markets. Volatility returned to the equity markets. To use a rather unsophisticated measure, almost three-quarters of the trading days showed moves of more than 100 points in the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Yields on higher quality government bonds plummeted; 10-year Treasuries ended the month at 1.64 percent and Germany’s 10-year rate touched a record low of 0.298 percent
