The Good: Coal miners crow, but Rainbow Chicken is plucked by recession

Sentula Mining on Friday reported a 10% rise in first-half headline earnings, and said outlook for its businesses was strong on the back of rising demand from the coal industry.

Sentula, whose businesses include opencast mining services, exploration drilling, crane hire and coal mining, said demand for its services was rising as South African coal producers seek to boost their exports to satisfy growing demand from Asia.

• Anglo American plans to divest its Callide coal mine in Australia to better focus on high-margin export operations. Callide, in Queensland, primarily supplies coal to domestic power stations.

• Shares of junior miner Simmer & Jack jumped 4.4% after the company reported a cash operating profit of R7.9-million for the July-September quarter, compared with a loss of R52.8-million in April-June. The company said the acquisition of Tau Lekoa mine from AngloGold Ashanti in July is helping drive its turnaround strategy.

• Nampak, South Africa's biggest packaging group, nearly doubled its full-year profit as its restructuring plan begins to pay off. Nampak, which supplies plastic milk bottles to Britain and operates in several African countries, has a three-year turnaround plan that includes selling non-core assets and fixing underperforming units.

• Shares of Mobile Industries gained 1.8% after the investment holding firm said it will transfer its 46.25% stake of Trencor to shareholders. Mobile Industries, which owns, leases, manages and resells marine cargo containers globally, said the unbundling will simplify the group structure, reducing the number of listed entities to two with Trencor in Johannesburg and Textainer on the New York Stock Exchange.

• Shares in Uranium One ticked up 5% after the Toronto-based uranium producer said it received approval from the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission to proceed with its deal to sell a controlling stake in itself to a Russian state-owned miner.

• Capitec plans to raise R1-billion via a rights issue as the banker aims to shore up capital and ramp up expansion. The rights offer, which represents 10% of the company's issued shares, has the backing of PSG Group and Thembeka Capital - together holding a total of 38.6% of Capitec.

• Shares in African Eagle Resources gained 7% as investors reacted positively to news that the nickel group has spun off its uranium assets to Jacana Resources, a private Australian company, in return for shares and cash.

The Bad

Rainbow Chicken posted a 5.2% dip in first-half profit, hit by soft consumer demand and said it expects a rise in feed prices in the second half. SA's largest processor and marketer of chicken said poultry prices are under significant pressure as recession-hit consumers spend warily.

• Adcock Ingram, SA's second-biggest drug maker, posted a 19% decline in full-year profit, stung by a one-off charge from a black empowerment deal. Adcock, which makes painkillers and other over-the-counter drugs, took a R270-million share-based payment charge in relation to the sale of a 13% stake last year to black investors.

• Foreigners sold R3.88-billion worth of bonds in the week ended November 19, although they bought SA equities worth R2.84-billion, according to JSE data.
• The number of companies that have wound up their affairs is 1.8% up so far this year compared to 2009, said Statistics SA.

October 2010 liquidations were 37% higher than in the same month last year. The highest numbers of liquidations were related to businesses in the financing, insurance, real estate and business services industries.

• Consumer goods firm Tiger Brands reported a slight decline in full-year profit, hit by costs of R152.7-million from an empowerment deal and said it expects demand to remain weak in the first half of the coming year.

The company, which makes bread, breakfast cereal and energy drinks, reported headline earnings per share of R1.39 for the year to end-September, compared with R1.41 last year.

• Shares of Capital Shopping Centres fell 1.2% after the company confirmed reports it is in advanced talks to buy the Trafford Centre, a shopping centre near Manchester, for £1.6-billion and might issue new shares as part of the deal.
• Shares in Eastern Platinum dropped 10.9% after the junior miner said it will raise up to C$302.2-million in an equity offering. The Vancouver-based miner said it will sell 195 million common shares at C$1.55 each to fund the first phase of its Eastern Limb platinum project in South Africa.
• Business confidence is down to the same levels as the beginning of the year, according to a survey by Rand Merchant Bank and the Bureau for Economic Research. The RMB/BER index declined to 44 in the fourth quarter from 47 in the third. The index reflects the percentage of respondents in various sectors who rate business conditions as satisfactory.