S.Africa fuel industry strike could end soon

(Reuters) - South Africa's fuel industry strike could come to an end as early as Monday if the unions accept a revised offer, labour representatives said on Sunday.

Employers and unions have been locked in talks since the strike began last week, with unions demanding a 10 percent wage increase.


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South Sudan awards gold, uranium mining contracts

(Reuters) - South Sudan has awarded two companies exploration licenses for gold and uranium in areas thought to be rich in minerals, an official from the semi-autonomous region said.

British/South African New Kush Exploration and Mining Company and the UK-listed Brinkley Mining Plc paid $5,000 for one-year exploration licenses in the area bordering Kenya.


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South African Rand Climbs Against Dollar Over Week as Carry Trade Resumes

(Bloomberg) -- South Africa's rand logged a weekly
gain against the dollar as global stocks rebounded, prompting
investors to resume buying emerging-market assets.

The rand also advanced as the cost of owning European
corporate bonds fell for the first week in seven. The South
African currency pared its weekly gain after Standard & Poor's
Corp. yesterday cut the credit outlook on Bear Stearns Cos.


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Angloplat H1 headline EPS up 47 pct, cuts FY output

(Reuters) - South Africa's Anglo Platinum posted a 47 percent jump in interim headline earnings per share on Monday, at the top end of its own forecast, and cut its output estimate for the year.

Angloplat, the world's biggest platinum producer, said headline EPS for the six months to end June increased to 29.43 rand from 22.02 rand in the same period last year, mainly due to strong metals prices.


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Liberty Group sees stronger H1 earnings

(Reuters) - South African insurance and asset management group Liberty Group expects headline earnings per share for the six months to end-June to increase by up to 55 percent, the firm said on Thursday.

Liberty Group, South Africa's third-biggest life insurer which is 30 percent-owned by Standard Bank, said headline EPS and EPS are expected to be 45-55 percent higher than the corresponding period a year ago.


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South African Rand Gains After Country's Credit Outlook Revised Higher

(Bloomberg) -- South Africa's rand rose against the
dollar after Fitch Ratings revised the country's credit outlook
to ``positive'' from ``stable.''

The rand also gained today as the spread, or yield gap,
between 10-year South African bonds and equivalent U.S.
Treasuries rose to near the highest in six months. The Reserve
Bank's 9.5 percent main lending rate makes local assets
attractive for investors who fund their purchases by borrowing
more cheaply in other currencies.


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S.Africa June CPIX steady at 6.4 pct y/y

(Reuters) - South Africa's targeted CPIX inflation quickened to 6.4 percent year-on-year in June, the same as in May and slightly above market expectations, official data showed on Wednesday.

Statistics South Africa also said that the all-items consumer price index (CPI) increased by an annual rate of 7.0 percent in June, compared to 6.9 percent in May.


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Grindrod to inject $80 mln in Mozambique port

(Reuters) - Mozambique said on Wednesday it had given the green light for South African shipping and logistics company Grindrod to invest $80 million to expand coal and car handling at the port of Maputo.

Transport and Communications Minister Antonio Munguambe told Reuters that Grindrod, which owns 95 percent of the coal terminal and 12 percent of Maputo Port, had focused on the port's expansion to relieve congestion at South African ports.


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S.African power utility agrees pay deal with union

(Reuters) - South Africa's state electricity utility Eskom has struck an 8 percent wage deal with Solidarity trade union, the union said on Tuesday.

Solidarity said workers would get an average 8 percent increase this year with a rise of at least 7 percent guaranteed, plus a guaranteed 8 percent minimum increase next year.


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Northam Platinum sees FY headline EPS up 80-93 pct

(Reuters) - South Africa's Northam Platinum expects its headline earnings per share for the year just ended to have risen by up to 93 percent due to high metals prices, the firm said on Monday.

The company said in a trading update that it expected headline EPS for the year to end June to have increased to between 540-580 cents from the 300.9 cents made the previous year.


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Rand reaches 11-month high vs dollar

(Reuters) - South Africa's rand firmed against the dollar on Thursday and reached its strongest level in 11 months, buoyed by firmer metals prices and the prospect of foreign inflows into the country.

The rand was trading at 6.8790 around 1450 GMT, about 0.87 percent firmer than its New York close of 6.9340 on Wednesday. The local unit reached 6.8550 earlier, its strongest level since August 20 last year according to Reuters data.


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Vodacom Group's Second-Quarter Revenue Increases 18.6 Percent, Telkom Say

(Bloomberg) -- Vodacom Group Ltd., South Africa's
largest mobile-phone company, posted an 18.6 percent gain in
sales in the second quarter after it signed up more customers.

Customer numbers rose by 28.4 percent to 32.4 million in the
three months through June 30 from a year earlier, Midrand, South
Africa-based Vodacom said in an e-mailed statement today. The
number increased 7.5 percent from the quarter through March 31.


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S.Africa's Eskom says after-tax profit down at R3.4 bln

(Reuters) - South African state-owned power utility Eskom Holdings posted a yearly after-tax profit of 3.4 billion rand for 2006/07, the company said Thursday.

Eskom, the world's lowest-cost electricity producer, said profit, excluding embedded derivatives, for the year to end-March was down slightly on the 3.7 billion rand recorded in the previous year.


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Standard Bank S Africa sets dlr bond guidance - lead

(Reuters) - The Standard Bank of South Africa Ltd has set price guidance on a five-year benchmark-sized dollar floating-rate note (FRN) it plans to sell, one of the lead managers said on Thursday.

Guidance for the senior FRN has been set at Libor plus 50 basis points area, the lead said.


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Woolworths sees profit jump but bad debt rises

(Reuters) - South African fashion, food and homeware group Woolworths Holdings Ltd expects full-year headline earnings per share to increase by 15-25 percent, the group said on Wednesday.

But the company said its provision for bad debt rose as higher interest rates made for a tougher debt collection environment, and its shares fell.


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S.Africa maize nudges up on fresh crop worries

(Reuters) - South Africa's benchmark maize contracts slipped on Tuesday in line with the U.S. market, but fresh worries about the local crop helped prices recover.

July white maize closed three rand lower at 1,675 rand a tonne, after falling to an intraday low of 1,645 rand. December white skidded to 1,714 before closing flat at 1,748 rand.


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DRDGOLD lifts resources by 150 pct at S.African mine

(Reuters) - South African gold miner DRDGOLD said on Tuesday it had seen a 150 percent increase in total resources at its East Rand Proprietary Mines Limited (ERPM) operation at Boksburg.

The increase, to 41.37 million ounces from 16.58 million ounces at 30 June 2006, the company said in a statement.


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Rand in tight range, looks to US data

(Reuters) - South Africa's rand held in a tight range versus the dollar on Tuesday, and dealers said direction was likely to hinge on the release of U.S. data later in the session.

At 0630 GMT, the rand stood at 6.9775 versus the dollar, little changed from its New York close of 6.9750 on Monday.


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Rand Advances for Third Week as Interest-Rate Outlook Spurs Carry Trades

(Bloomberg) -- South Africa's rand rose against the
dollar for a third week as expectations of higher interest rates
in Africa's biggest economy spurred investor appetite for so-
called carry trades.

The rand climbed to its highest in almost two weeks,
supported by investors seeking out South Africa's 9.5 percent
interest rate in trades funded by borrowing Japanese yen or Swiss
francs more cheaply. A report on July 12 showing quicker-than-
expected manufacturing growth added to speculation the Reserve
Bank will raise borrowing costs further.


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Miners boost S.Africa stocks; outlook hits Angloplat

(Reuters) - South African shares muscled to a record high on Thursday as a stronger gold price and Rio Tinto's bid for Alcan powered mining stocks but Anglo Platinum sank on a disappointing trading update.

The Johannesburg Top-40 index of blue-chip stocks rose 0.54 percent to 27,028.86 points, a historic closing peak, while the All-share index gained 0.49 percent to 29,789.95 points, also a record.


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