NATIONAL NEWS - Here’s what caught our attention on Monday:
1. MTN quarterly update
In its quarterly update for the period ending September 30, 2018, MTN is reporting that group subscribers increased by 2.5 million quarter-on-quarter to 225.4 million while active data subscribers increased by 5.0 million quarter-on-quarter. The group’s service revenue increased by 10.0% year-on-year, while group data revenue increased by 23.9% year-on-year. In the South African unit, Ebitda increased marginally to 34.8% from 34.5% year-on-year.
2. Famous Brands interim results
Franchise owner, Famous Brands is reporting a 10.6% increase in headline earnings per share to 188 cents for the six months ended August 31, 2018. The company’s revenue increased by 5.4% while the operating margin was at 11.8%. The company says its UK business, Gourmet Burger Kitchen’s continued underperformance is being mitigated with a restructure strategy. The board has declared no dividend for the period under review.
3. Raubex results
Infrastructure development and supplier of construction materials, Raubex is reporting a 72.8% decrease in headline earnings per share to 35.7 cents for the six months ended August 31, 2018, this is compared to the 131.1 cents reported in the first half of the year. Revenue decreased by 4% to R4.48 billion and operating profit fell by 57.4% to R157.8 million. An interim dividend of 12 cents per share has been declared.
4. Economic events
M3 money supply for September increased to R3 532 734, from R3 509 193 in August, data from Trading Economics showed.
Private sector credit rose by 6.26% from the previous year, in September, but fell from a near two-year high of 6.74% growth in August.
5. enX results
Industrial group enX reported an increase in adjusted headline earnings per share to 188.5 cents from 181.2 cents in 2017. The group’s revenue increased to R7.4 billion, while operating profit increased to R741 million from R673 million in 2017. The board has declared no cash dividend for the period.
