Drug firm 'fires' BEE partner

(FIN24) - In a move probably unprecedented in South Africa, AltX-listed pharmaceutical and natural products company Imuniti has "fired" its empowerment shareholders.

The BEE shareholders include union and ANC connected heavyweights like Kopano, investment arm for Cosatu, Malibongwe, that works on women's empowerment for the ANC Women's League, and Star Choice, an investment vehicle for the Tambo family.

Imuniti CEO Paul Fouche could not comment on reports Fin24 received about the empowerment shareholders, saying if true it was a matter between Imuniti's founder members and the BEE shareholders. However an announcement is expected.

The rumours are also supported by an announcement on JSE news wire SENS on December 21 that Tembi Tambo, daughter of the late Oliver and Adelaide Tambo, had resigned as an executive director of Imuniti. She formed and ran Star Choice to look after the Tambo family's 3.3% interest in Imuniti.
 

 

Read more at FIN24

S.Africa business confidence falls to 4-year low

(Reuters) - South African business confidence fell to a four-year low in December as companies were nervous about economic growth in 2008, the South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SACCI) said on Wednesday.

The Business Confidence Index fell to 94.8 points, its lowest level since November 2003, after declining to 95.8 in the previous month.

SACCI said in a statement a stable rand currency assisted exports and manufacturing output,

"The other sub-indices all turned negative...trade, residential construction and import volumes declined substantially while inflation moved higher while the stock market lacked direction."

Inflation climbed to a four-and-half year high of 7.9 percent year-on-year in November, raising expectations that the central bank would hike interest rates again on Jan 31, after raising them by 400 basis points since June 2006.

 

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U.S. Will Escape Recession, Economists Say in Survey

(Bloomberg) -- The U.S. will skirt recession as consumer spending slows without collapsing, a survey of economists showed.

Economic growth will average 1.5 percent in the first six months of 2008, matching the fourth quarter's pace, according to the median estimate of 62 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News from Jan. 3 to Jan. 8. The rate of expansion would be the weakest since the last nine months of 2001.

Read more at Bloomberg

 

Bear Stearns's Cayne to give up CEO post: report

(Reuters) - Bear Stearns Cos Inc (BSC.N: Quote, Profile, Research) leader James Cayne will relinquish his title as chief executive, but remain chairman, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday, citing people familiar with the matter.

Reached by phone at his residence in Manhattan, Cayne declined to comment.

"I can't talk. I'm on the other line," Cayne told Reuters.

The 74-year-old Cayne has been under fire since two Bear-run hedge funds collapsed last summer. The fifth-largest U.S. investment bank also lost money in the fourth quarter -- its first loss ever -- on bad bets on risky subprime mortgages.

Cayne has been the subject of unflattering articles about his time playing golf and bridge while the company's key fixed-income business stumbled amid a meltdown in the subprime mortgage industry. The company took a $1.9 billion write-down in the quarter that ended November 30, reflecting the reduced value of subprime mortgage-related securities. Its quarterly net loss was $854 million.

 

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U.S. Stocks Climb for Second Day; Chevron, Bear Stearns Advance

(Bloomberg) -- U.S. stocks advanced the most in two weeks, led by miners and energy producers, after gold rose to a record and oil rebounded from its biggest decline in more than a month.

Chevron Corp., the second-largest U.S. energy company, and Schlumberger Ltd., the world's biggest oilfield-services provider, climbed. Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. and Newmont Mining Corp. rallied as prices for precious and industrial metals increased. Bear Stearns Cos. gained after a person with knowledge of the matter said Chief Executive Officer James Cayne plans to resign.

The Standard & Poor's 500 Index increased 5.45, or 0.4 percent, to 1,420.62 as of 9:39 a.m. in New York. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 24.22, or 0.2 percent, to 12,851.71. The Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 2.34, or 0.1 percent, to 2,501.8. About 13 shares climbed for every five that fell on the New York Stock Exchange.

Shares rose in Europe and Asia, led by miners and telephone companies. The Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index of European shares added 0.9 percent for its first gain of the year.

``With oil where it is right now between $90 and $100, the oil companies do pretty darn well and they still look relatively inexpensive,'' Jeffrey Saut, who helps oversee about $190 billion as chief investment strategist at Raymond James & Associates, said in a Bloomberg Television interview.

U.S. equities also got a boost as the cost for banks to borrow in dollars and euros slid, signaling efforts by central banks to restore confidence in money markets is working. Investors will get further clues on the outlook for economic growth and interest rates from a private report today that may show pending home sales fell for the first time in three months.

 

Read more at Bloomberg

Rand poses 'real risk'

(Fin24) - The deterioration in SA's growth/inflation trade-off should stay limited unless the rand weakens sharply, says chief economist for Citigroup in SA, Jean Mercier.

He adds that he does view the threat to the rand as "a real risk".

"Despite being sheltered from the subprime crisis, growth in SA is suffering from an inflation-induced tightening of monetary policy," says Mercier.

Reuters reports that the rand weakened one percent against the dollar on Monday, tracking weaker global markets as investors fled risky assets.

Read more at Fin24

Electronics makers keep eye on U.S. economy

(Reuters) - Electronics makers considering the strain on the U.S. economy are hoping consumers will cut other expenses first, but many see some worrying signs ahead.

Gathered in Las Vegas this week for the Consumer Electronics Show, gadget, cell phone and television makers are placing their bets on whether U.S. economic troubles from rising unemployment to mortgage market problems will stop consumer spending.

"We need to watch just how cold sentiment is getting," Toshihiko Fujimoto, chief executive of Sharp Corp's (6753.T: Quote, Profile, Research) Sharp Electronics, said on Sunday. "We can't say business is especially good."

Sony Corp's (6758.T: Quote, Profile, Research) Sony Electronics President Stan Glasgow, who oversees the U.S. electronics business, told Reuters the company had strong sales in recent months, boosted by demand for its Bravia line of televisions.

 

Read more at Reuters