Rational Radio

Flash Briefing: Added pressure on Magashule; Steinhoff results delayed; Brimstone lines fishing merger; Trade talks positive.

Pressure mounted over the weekend on the man who oversees day-to-day running of South Africa’s ruling political party. Another round of trade talks between the US and China wrapped up in Washington over the weekend with both sides happy with the progress. South Africa’s leading food group Tiger Brands is…

7 Apr 2019 4 min

From the Editor’s Desk: Brexit on the ground – an economic slow puncture

As the UK lurches ever-closer to a no-deal Brexit, the view from the ground in the UK is depressing. Business investment has slowed as companies consider their long-term future. Many are setting up shop offshore in Europe to avoid potential disruptions and maintain their European market share. Many others are…

6 Apr 2019 19 min

Flash Briefing: BP's SA environmental crime, Tesla shares fall, Ethiopia backs pilots, Magashule hits back

In today's business headlines: BP has been found guilty in the Pretoria High Court of environmental crimes in a private prosecution. Ethiopia concluded that their pilots repeatedly followed procedures recommended by Boeing. Tesla Inc. shares fell by 11% as a record decline in deliveries during the first quarter stoked concern…

4 Apr 2019 3 min

Flash Briefing: Eskom to avoid dark winter, May shedding hard Brexit, ANC's integrity committee Aced

In today's business headlines: Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan told a media briefing on Eskom that there will be little or at worst only Stage 1 load shedding in the winter. Foreign investors have bought a net R6.8bn of government bonds since Friday after outflows of R81m in March. UK…

3 Apr 2019 3 min

Flash Briefing: May turns to Corbyn; UK wants Big 4 breakup; Boeing upgrade not ready; Lyft shares fall below IPO; Penguin stands firm on Ace book

British Prime Minister Theresa May is going to ask the European Union for another Brexit delay and will reach to her opposition leader, Jeremy Corbyn to find an end to the logjam. British MPs wants to break up the Big Four auditing companies, PWC, KPMG, EY and Deloitte. The software…

2 Apr 2019 3 min

Flash Briefing: Rand, SA bonds jump; Saudis unveil Aramco; Barclays bankers jailed; Coro, Sygnia, Ayo.

Saudi Arabia’s once secretive national oil company Aramco, lifted the veil on its financials yesterday to expose that it is by some distance the biggest profit generating company on earth. Two former employees of Barclays Bank were sentenced to jail for their roles in rigging of a European benchmark interest…

1 Apr 2019 3 min

Flash Briefing: Shares' best qtr since 2009; Moody's SA non event; Zuckerberg wants privacy; China manufacturing rebounding

Global stocks markets ended the first three months of 2019 in great shape with another winning session on Friday taking US shares to their best quarterly result in almost a decade. China’s Purchasing Manager’s Index, the official gauge of activity in the country’s manufacturing sector of the world’s second biggest…

31 Mar 2019 3 min

Flash Briefing: Repo rate held, May's round three, profits over patients, Andile Ramaphosa fall-out

The UK Parliament may see another vote on Prime Minister Theresa May's deal today after late night negotiations with Belfast and she offered to resign to save the deal. A second Barclays ex-trader has been convicted for Euribor rigging. Another US state is suing Purdue Pharma and the Sackler family…

28 Mar 2019 2 min

Flash Briefing: Naspers pulls up JSE; Kieswetter to run SARS; China's shades of Selebi; More blood at Barclays.

Chinese president Xi Jinping’s six year anti-corruption campaign claimed one of its biggest scalps yesterday in former head of Interpol, Meng Hongwei. Bloodletting at the UK’s Barclays Bank continued yesterday with the sudden departure of corporate and investment banking head Tim Throsby, in the position for barely two years. In…

27 Mar 2019 3 min

Flash Briefing: Rees-Mogg switches sides; Kumba, Old Mutual gain; Uber buys Dubai rival; PIC suspends boss

Global ride hailing market leader Uber Technologies has concluded its biggest ever acquisition through the $3.1bn takeover of Middle Eastern rival Careem Networks. Britain’s leading Eurosceptic Jacob Rees-Mogg, who has led much of the fight against prime minister Theresa May’s Brexit deal, yesterday switched sides after it became apparent that…

26 Mar 2019 3 min

Flash Briefing: JSE struggles - market and stock; Lyft IPO this week; Naspers bets big; Smiles for Trump, May.

Ride-hailing company Lyft Inc will IPO later this week with investors seemingly undeterred at the Uber rival’s heavy annual losses which reached $911m last year. It has been a good 48 hours for both US president Donald Trump and British prime minister Theresa May. In South African news, the stock…

25 Mar 2019 3 min

Naspers to list assets in Amsterdam - bonanza for SA shareholders, taxman

An 18 month investigation to find a way of addressing the 40% discount between Naspers’s share price and the value of tis underlying assets reached a headline making conclusion today. The Group will hive off its global assets, including the $134bn stake in Tencent, into a new company that will…

25 Mar 2019 13 min

Flash Briefing: Apple's new strategy; Mrs May teetering; Italy shocks allies; SA awaits Moody's

In today's business headlines... Apple Inc, which at $900bn shades Microsoft as the world’s most valuable company, will today unveil a years-in-the-making strategy to install video and news subscription services as its top priority. British Prime Minister Theresa May faces another difficult week with Conservative Party colleagues calling for her…

24 Mar 2019 2 min

The Editor’s Desk: Can’t trust politicians, can’t trust business

As elections edge closer and the lights stay off, many South Africans are seriously asking themselves who they can really trust. And as the polls show, many of them are answering, “No one.” Trust in South Africa’s political parties is at a relatively low ebb, and many voters feel like…

23 Mar 2019 17 min

Flash Briefing: Loadshedding rides on Petro SA, Brexit delayed, Boeing software fix in weeks , 15,000 people waiting to be rescued after Mozambican fl..

In today's headlines: Eskom is waiting for a diesel delivery from Petro SA to ease loadshedding. Brexit has been delayed by the EU, but became even more confusing. Boeing says software fixes for Boeing 737 Max will be ready in weeks. New Zealand has banned assault rifles. An emergency of…

22 Mar 2019 2 min

Flash Briefing: SA building sites ablaze; Google, Roundup, Investec, Hudaco, Brexit.

European antagonism against Big Tech gathered momentum yesterday when Google was fined €1.5bn by the EU for limiting how some websites could display ads sold by its rivals. British Prime Minister Theresa May yesterday asked the European Union to delay its departure from the bloc by three months to June…

20 Mar 2019 3 min

SLR's political lens: Corbyn, Mazibuko unmasked - what happens next?

Simon Lincoln Reader has built quite a following among the Biznews Community through his weekly satirical column focusing on the political scene in his South African homeland and the UK, where he now lives. This well connected financier with a light pen shares the direct approach commonly found among those…

20 Mar 2019 21 min

Flash Briefing: More loadshedding expected; social media giants under pressure after NZ massacre; electric cars rule Geneva

Stage 2 load shedding in South Africa to continue until midweek after the weekend blackouts are blamed on Mozambique cyclone.  Steinhoff is looking for more answers after PWC report. Social media giants are under pressure to do more to prevent extremist videos after the New Zealand mosque massacre. Brexiteers may…

17 Mar 2019 4 min

Flash Briefing: Brexit delay; Morgan Stanley bets on SA; Standard Bank branch closures; Boeing 737 Max grounding in French hands

In today’s global business headlines… A motion to delay Brexit initially until the end of June with a possible further extension was passed by a majority of 210 votes in the UK Parliament. The fate of Boeing 737 Max jets are now in the hands of France. Fiat Chrysler is…

14 Mar 2019 4 min

The Editor's Desk: Behind the ANC's shocking electoral list

Election Day is getting closer and closer. As South Africans prepare to go to the polls, the ANC has released its electoral lists. The lists generated instant controversy as they prominently featured certain dubious politicians, including Mosebenzi Zwane, Malusi Gigaba, Bathabile Dlamini and Nomvula Mokonyane. Why has the ANC allowed…

14 Mar 2019 15 min