CAPE TOWN – Good morning. This is all the latest business news that you need to know today.
1. Group Five’s $62.7m Kpone guarantees ‘not close’ to covering Cenpower’s losses
Cenpower Generation Company claims the $62.7 million (R857.7m) in delay damages it received from listed Group Five’s bank guarantee providers for its $410m Kpone power plant contract in Ghana "do not come close” to the losses it has suffered.
2. Ghost of listeriosis past: Tiger Brands faces multimillion-rand class action
The material impact of the damage to Tiger Brands could be hundreds of millions of rand, according to analysts, after the High Court yesterday granted an order certifying a class action against the food producer as a result of the listeriosis outbreak that killed 200 people early this year.
3. Rand, stocks rally on trade war ceasefire
South Africa’s stock market and local currency rallied yesterday on the back of a ceasefire in the trade spat between the US and China that boosted investor sentiment.
4. Interest rate hike impacts vehicle sales
New vehicle sales continued to decline during November, noticeably impacted by the interest rate increase in the third week of the month.
5. President Cyril Ramaphosa will announce a new national director of public prosecutions today.
Eleven candidates were interviewed by a panel, led by minister Jeff Radebe, last month and recommended five of them to be considered for the position.
6. The GDP numbers for the third quarter will be released at today.
Stats SA is set to announce the country's third-quarter GDP figure and economists expect that South Africa has emerged from a recession.
7. Apple will wait until at least 2020 to release a 5G iPhone
Apple plans to hold off until at least 2020 before offering an iPhone that can connect to the next generation of high-speed phone services coming next year, according to people familiar with its plans.