Telkom puts BCX suitors on hold
Commenting on Telkom’s group results, Mergence Head of Equities, Peter Takaendesa, said there was improvement in terms of operational cash generation. However, the group’s return on invested capital remained much lower than its cost of capital and any cash returns to shareholders in future would largely depend on operational cashflows in order to protect the […]
Credit growth to remain low unless government’s work on structural reforms continues
Credit growth across the banking sector is tepid due to the tough economy, and unless the new Government of National Unity continues the momentum to sustain structural reforms, this anaemic growth will likely continue indefinitely, says Mergence Investment Managers senior investment analyst Radebe Sipamla. Because the government has reached a situation where debt levels have […]
SA’s banks sense new dawn as pro-business coalition takes power
In the prestigious FT The Banker magazine, Mergence Senior Investment Analyst Radebe Sipamla provides an overview of the South African banking sector, focusing on how key players may evolve following the establishment of the Government of National Unity.
The water crisis
In a wide-ranging discussion on the water crisis in South Africa, Mergence Head: Private Markets, Kasief Isaacs, chatted to Dawn Ridler from Classic Business FM. Kasief stressed the urgent need for action as the water crisis has the potential to be even more dire than the energy crisis. He described how public-private partnerships and regulatory […]
Vodacom denies it will manipulate market with fibre merger
The Competition Commission has ruled against the proposed deal by Vodacom to establish a company, called Maziv, in a multibillion rand deal, with Dark Fibre Africa and Vumatel. Commenting on the development, Mergence Head of Equities, Peter Takaendesa said that if the deal did not go through, Vodacom would probably invest in growing its other […]
SA funds have only 2% invested in infrastructure
Institutional investors are allocating only around 2% to the infrastructure asset class, despite Regulation 28 effectively allowing for a maximum infrastructure investment exposure equivalent to as much as 45% of fund assets. This can be achieved by a 15% fund exposure to unlisted infrastructure through infrastructure private equity funds; a 15% exposure to unlisted infrastructure […]
Squeezed Multichoice to grow new products
With its traditional pay-TV business under pressure – down 9% in the year to March 2023 – Multichoice has ambitions to build a portfolio of digital products layered on top of the traditional base to drive ongoing top-line growth. Mergence Head: Equities, Peter Takaendesa, commented that the period had been incredibly tough and said that […]
The Fed’s Dot Plot
This week, the US Federal Reserve’s Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) kept US interest rates unchanged but published an update to the dot plot, the forecast by FOMC members of interest rate policy. The Fed introduced the dot plot in 2012 and updates these projections on a quarterly basis. The market pays a lot of […]
DA-ANC deal may boost rand to R17,50 but other outcomes will bring more sell-offs
Coalition politics are on the cards as final votes are counted in the National Elections. Based on News24 projections, Mergence CIO Brad Preston looks at various potential scenarios and their impact on the markets. He says that though a broad coalition of smaller parties led by the ANC could still achieve a majority in Parliament, […]
Bombshell accusations rock municipal pension fund
News24 covers the legal action between Mergence Investment Managers and the Municipal Employees Pension Fund – whose administrator is Akani – mentioning arguments put forward by both parties. Mergence is disputing the purported termination of investment mandates by the MEPF and has also laid a complaint with the Financial Sector Conduct Authority which had already […]
A quick first look at coalition combinations
With just over half of the voting districts counted in the 2024 South African general election, it is clear that South Africa is heading into an era of coalition politics. The market focus will now start to shift from the results to the potential coalitions. Using News24’s current national and provincial projections, we examine some […]
Don’t put all your eggs in one basket
Mohamed Ismail, Mergence Head of Fixed Income, provided some comment in the Asset Managers feature in the respected Financial Mail Investors Monthly. Given the inflation risk and the fact that markets are not discounting the possibility that short-term interest rates have room to climb, Ismail believes a bearish stance on SA bonds is bullish.
