The Week Ahead

The Week Ahead

9-13 December

The Rand

The rand has managed to gain against the majors at the start of the new month. Gains in the ZAR have come despite weaker than expected domestic GDP data, and finds place in what has generally been a risk on trading environment globally.

n the near term we see the USD/ZAR range bound in nature currently trading between levels R17.90/$ and R18.40/$.

Commodities

Commodity markets were mixed by the end of the week, with metals finding some support while oil markets responded to OPEC+ output and outlook commentary.
Copper prices have been buoyed by a weaker U.S. dollar, and as markets await new economic stimulus measures from China, the world's largest consumer of the metal.
Gold also saw modest gains following the release of November's U.S. employment data, which indicated a gradual cooling in the labour market and reinforced expectations for potential Federal Reserve interest rate cuts. However, the precious metal had remained largely range-bound throughout most of the week.
In oil markets, OPEC+ announced an extension of their production cuts for an additional three months, pointing to weak global demand conditions, particularly from China, as the primary factor behind their decision.

Companies

Tiger Brands Ltd: FY24 results showed diluted EPS to have increased to 1,915.80c, from 1,700.00c in the previous year.

Super Group Ltd (SA): announced the sale of its 53.584% stake in SG Fleet to Westmann Bidco, controlled by Pacific Equity Partners, for A$641.40mn. The transaction, at A$3.50 per share, offers a 31% premium to SG Fleet’s pre-announcement share price. The deal is subject to approvals and expected to close by March 2025.

Fortress Real Estate Investments Limited: in its trading and operational update for the period from 30 June 2024 to 31 October 2024, guided that its retail portfolio achieved a 4.5% like-for-like tenant turnover growth and maintained a low vacancy rate of 1.1%.

Prosus NV.: 1H25 results showed diluted EPS to have increased by 45.3% from the same period of the prior year.

Naspers Ltd: 1H25 results showed diluted EPS to have increased to 1,061.00 US cents from 736.00 US cents in the prior year’s comparative period.

Absa Group Limited: in its voluntary trading update for the year ending 31 December 2024, expects mid-single digit revenue growth, with broadly similar growth in net interest income and non-interest income.

Standard Bank Group Ltd: in its trading update for the ten months to 31 October 2024, expects headline earnings to grow by low-to-mid single digits in South African Rand and mid-teens in constant currency.