Rebosis Property Fund plans a share sale to help fund the purchase of offices and a shopping mall.

Johannesburg - Rebosis Property Fund, a South African real estate company, plans a share sale to help fund the purchase of offices and a shopping mall.

“The first option being considered is to tap the equity market for a total amount of 1 billion rand ($104 million),” Chief Financial Officer Janys Finn said in a phone interview today.

“We have got shareholders approval to raise as much as 1.08 billion rand from the market.”

The decision by Johannesburg-based Rebosis follows a similar move by South Africa’s two largest real estate companies, Redefine Properties and Growthpoint Properties.

Growthpoint raised 2.5 billion rand through the sale of 90 million shares this week to fund deals and existing projects.

Rebosis will use part of the funds to acquire a portfolio of office properties from Nthwese for 1.06 billion rand, Finn said.

The office properties are let to the Gauteng province and the national government.

Rebosis also acquired the Sunny Park Mall in Pretoria for 580 million rand.

“After these acquisitions, our portfolio will be valued at 6.5 billion rand, which positions our company to look at the bond market for the first time,” Finn said.

“Our current debt maturity profile is about two years and we plan to extend it to three to five years.”

Rebosis shares declined for a second day, falling 3.3 percent to 13.15 rand at 2:56 p.m. in Johannesburg, giving the company a market value of 4 billion rand.

The stock has gained 14 percent this year, outpacing an 11 percent advance in the 22-company FTSE/JSE South Africa Listed Property Index. - Bloomberg News

Ralph Lauren is reporting a 35 percent increase in fourth-quarter profit.

New York - Ralph Lauren is reporting a 35 percent increase in fourth-quarter profit, but economic challenges here and abroad and certain strategic initiatives cut into sales.

The New York-based company is reporting net income of $127.2 million, or $1.37 per share, for the three months that ended March 30.

That compares with $94.4 million, or 99 cents per share, a year earlier.

Revenue rose a slim 1.2 percent to $1.64 billion.

Analysts had expected earnings of $1.31 per share on revenue of $1.7 billion.

The company expects revenue to be up in the low single digits for the current quarter and anywhere from 4 percent to 7 percent for the full year.

Shares fell nearly 4 percent, or $7.06, to $181 in premarket trading. - Sapa-AP

Britain's Financial Conduct Authority said it has fined a wealth management unit of US bank JPMorgan Chase 3.08 million pounds.

London - Britain's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said it has fined a wealth management unit of US bank JPMorgan Chase 3.08 million pounds ($4.6 million) for being unable to show it was giving clients the right advice.

The FCA said on Thursday the failings were not corrected until the watchdog brought them to the bank's attention in the course of its wider review of wealth management firms in Britain.

“No matter who they are, customers of wealth managers should be able to expect the firm to keep complete, up to date client records so that they can give the right advice,” the FCA's director of enforcement, Tracey McDermott, said in a statement.

“In this case the firm did not have complete records, nor did its management have the information they needed to recognise this,” she said.

The FCA said the failings persisted over two years, exposing customers to the risk that they would be given the wrong advice and inappropriate investments though no actual harm to customers has been identified to date.

After the failings were pointed out the bank took “prompt action” to improve its systems and undertake a significant overhaul of how it assesses if investments are suitable for customers, the watchdog said.

An independent review of 25 customers found “significant gaps” in the information the bank had on 22 of them, such as how much risk the customer wanted to take on.

JPMorgan, whose fine was cut by 30 percent due to an early stage settlement, said it has fully cooperated with the FCA and has enhanced its procedures to ensure they comply with required regulations.

The FCA is due to publish findings shortly from its review of the wealth management sector in general.

JPMorgan's wealth management arm offers loans, mortgages and portfolio investment services to clients with $25 million or more to invest, many of whom were working in the financial services industry when the failings took place, the FCA said. - Reuters

Vale and Rio Tinto have neglected thousands of Mozambicans who have been moved from mining areas and resettled without proper homes or income, Human Rights Watch alleged.

Maputo - Global mining giants Vale and Rio Tinto have neglected thousands of Mozambicans who have been moved from mining areas and resettled without proper homes or income, Human Rights Watch alleged on Thursday.

“Many of the 1,429 households resettled to make way for Vale and Rio Tinto's international coal mining operations ... have faced serious disruptions in their access to food, water, and work,” the rights group said.

More than half the booming northern Tete province has been zoned for mining, limiting the amount of good farming land available for resettlement.

Mozambique is believed to have the largest untapped coal reserves in the world and exports could reach 100 million tonnes over the next decade, fuelling industrial development in India and China.

But many farming families in the country's booming north had gone from self-sufficiency to reliance on food distribution since 2009, when Brazil's Vale started resettlements, according to Human Rights Watch.

Residents of the Cateme resettled community periodically block roads - most recently in April - to protest against crumbling houses and lost livelihoods.

The tensions highlighted “how quickly the government has been handing out licences, limiting the availability of land,” said Nisha Varia, launching HRW's report in the Mozambican capital Maputo.

The group called on authorities to update current resettlement laws to bring them up to international standards.

The report came as the impoverished southern-African nation prepares for major gas exploration off its northeastern coast in Cabo Delgado province.

Over 100 trillion cubic feet have been discovered here so far - almost double Libya's proven reserves. - Sapa-AFP

SABMiller has forecast margin expansion in the year ahead after profit grew in line with expectations.

Brussels - SABMiller, the world's second-biggest brewer, forecast margin expansion in the year ahead after profit grew in line with expectations thanks to a surge in earnings in Latin America and Africa.

The maker of Grolsch, Peroni and Pilsner Urquell, said on Thursday it expected trading conditions to be broadly unchanged in the next 12 months, with strong growth in developing markets and difficulties in Europe and the United States.

The brewer said it would increase prices in places, with input costs expected to rise by a low to mid-single digit percentage from a mid single-digit rise in 2012/2013.

“We would assume that our margins would grow next year by a modest amount, somewhere between 20 and 50 basis points, so similar to the current year,” chief financial officer Jamie Wilson told a conference call.

Operating margin grew by 40 basis points on a constant currency basis in the financial year to the end of March.

SABMiller shares were down 1.7 percent at 12:07 SA time, compared with the 1.1 percent decline of the STOXX European food and beverage index.

However, the brewer's shares have outperformed its rivals in the year to date, gaining 23 percent, against 11 percent for the index.

Analysts said SABMiller's earnings were slightly lower than expected at the operating level, with more or less in line earnings per share and a reasonable outlook.

“Directionally it's better than the others largely due to geographical mix. They aren't in Brazil and have minimal exposure to Western Europe,” said Bernstein Research analyst Trevor Stirling.

Anheuser-Busch InBev has cut its sales forecast for Brazil and Heineken its view for overall group growth after weak starts to the year, while rival Carlsberg benefited from its push into Asia.

Stirling said that with a price to forward earnings ratio of 21 times, SABMiller was trading at a premium of 20 percent to peers so many of its positives were already priced in.

SABMiller, which now earns 75 percent of its profit from emerging markets, said adjusted earnings per share rose 11 percent to 238.7 U.S. cents, matching the Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S average forecast of 239 cents.

The London- and Johannesburg-listed company said EBITA (earnings before interest, tax and amortisation) rose 14 percent to $6.42 billion, in line with the Thomson Reuters mean forecast but below the $6.54 billion StarMine SmartEstimate, which weights analyst forecasts according to previous track record.

The brewer, which has expanded rapidly since the 2002 takeover of Miller by SAB, whose origins were in South Africa, said EBITA (earnings before interest, tax and amortisation) in Latin America grew 11 percent on a like-for-like basis.

The continent now makes up about a third of SABMiller's earnings, with leading positions in Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, although volume growth slowed in the January-March period, with a decline in Colombia, partly due to price increases.

In Africa, EBITA grew by 20 percent and overtook both North America and Europe through brands such as Nile and Castle, which dominate the east of the continent from Uganda to South Africa.

Asia-Pacific earnings also improved, as it made gains in China and India and achieved half the targeted $180 million cost savings from its end-2011 acquisition of Australia's Foster's. - Reuters

Ford announced it would cease making vehicles at its unprofitable Australian plants in 2016 and axe 1,200 jobs.

Melbourne - Ford announced Thursday it would cease making vehicles at its unprofitable Australian plants in 2016 and axe 1,200 jobs, having produced its first car in the country in 1925.

Ford Australia chief executive Bob Graziano made the announcement as he revealed losses of Aus$141 million (US$136 million) after tax in the last financial year and Aus$600 million over the last five years.

“Unfortunately we will cease our manufacturing operations in October 2016. As a result, approximately 1,200 jobs will become redundant when those sites close,” he said.

Graziano said the decision was the result of local manufacturing being “driven by increasingly challenging market conditions -

including market fragmentation and the high cost of manufacturing”.

Australia has annual sales of approximately 1.1 million new vehicles, and customers have access to more than 65 brands and 365

models.

Graziano said this made Australia one of the most competitive and crowded automotive markets in the world.

“Given the fragmented marketplace and the low model volumes that result, we decided that manufacturing locally is no longer viable,” he said, adding that all viable alternatives had been considered.

“Our costs are double that of Europe and nearly four times Ford in Asia,” he said.

“The business case simply did not stack up, leading us to the conclusion (that) manufacturing is not viable for Ford in Australia in the long-term.”

The jobs will go at Ford's Broadmeadows and Geelong factories in Victoria state, which will close. While manufacturing will stop, Ford will remain in Australia as an importer and dealer, employing some 1,500 people.

Australian Manufacturing Workers Union national president Paul Bastian said the news was a “disaster” for workers and a “tragedy” for the local and national economies.

“We want the government to call a meeting of all the auto players,” he told Fairfax radio.

“We want to take the positives out of this. We want bipartisan support to see what we can do to ensure that we have an auto industry, that we have an industry that is sustainable.”

Australia's auto industry is struggling with the effects of the high local dollar, which has traded near or above parity with the greenback for almost two years, squeezing exports and compounding rising production costs.

Though Australia did not go into recession during the global financial crisis, domestic confidence has failed to return to pre-crisis levels, also hitting car sales.

Canberra extended a Aus$3.2 billion bailout to the ailing sector at the height of the global downturn and stepped in with additional lifelines to Ford and General Motors subsidiary Holden last year.

Ford first began making vehicles in Australia in 1925, when Model T cars rolled off the production line in Geelong. - Sapa-AFP

Nissan Motor will recall about 841,000 vehicles worldwide including the Micra compact car.

Tokyo - Nissan Motor Co Ltd will recall about 841,000 vehicles worldwide including the Micra compact car, also known as the March, as a result of a steering wheel glitch, Japan's No.2 automaker said on Thursday.

Nissan is recalling certain models of the Micra compact car produced in Britain and Japan between 2002 and 2006, as well as the Cube, produced in Japan around the same period.

It is pulling back vehicles in Japan, Europe, Asia, Oceania, Africa, Latin America and the Middle East.

The bolt used in the steering wheel of these cars may not have been properly tightened and at worst the steering wheel may not function, Nissan said in a statement filed to the Japanese transport ministry.

No accidents, injuries or deaths have been reported, Nissan spokeswoman Noriko Yoneyama said.

Nissan will fix the glitch by either tightening the bolts or replacing the steering wheel with a new one.

The repair will take about 40 minutes, Yoneyama said. She declined to say how much the recall will cost Nissan. - Reuters

Shares of Investec drop 2.5 percent to 70.9 rand after the South African investment bank a earnings fall short of expectations.

Johannesburg - Shares of Investec drop 2.5 percent to 70.9 rand after the South African investment bank and asset manager's full-year earnings fall short of lofty market expectations.

Investec, which is also listed in London, reported a 25 percent increase in adjusted earnings per share for the year to end-March. But the result was still about 8 percent short of the estimate from Thomson Reuters StarMine. - Reuters

Tsogo Sun said sales will outpace inflation this year as an economic recovery resuscitates depressed demand for rooms.

Johannesburg - Tsogo Sun Holdings, South Africa’s biggest hotel and leisure operator by market value, said sales will outpace inflation this year as an economic recovery resuscitates depressed demand for rooms.

Growth during April and May, the first two months of fiscal 2014, has been “slightly above inflation,” chief executive Marcel von Aulock said in a phone interview today.

It’s a continuation of last year’s gains, he said.

Annual inflation in April was 5.9 percent, while Africa’s biggest economy is forecast to grow at its slowest pace since 2009, as labor wage demands slows mining industry output.

Tsogo is highly geared toward the South African consumer in gaming, and toward corporations through its hotels, with both segments still experiencing difficult economic conditions, the Johannesburg-based company said in a statement today.

“The results for the year continue to reflect the growth potential of the group should these sectors of the South African economy continue to improve,” it said.

Net income for the 12 months through March declined to 1.63 billion rand ($170 million) from 1.72 billion rand a year earlier.

Revenue rose 10 percent to 9.9 billion rand with 6.8 percent growth in gaming win, 19 percent growth in hotel-rooms revenue and a 16 percent advance in food and beverage revenue.

Refurbishing Casinos

Tsogo shares declined 0.7 percent to 24.80 rand at 11:16 a.m. in Johannesburg, giving the company a market value of 29.3 billion rand.

The stock has gained 4.5 percent this year, compared with a 0.5 percent increase for competitor Sun International Ltd.

Tsogo, partly controlled by brewer SABMiller Plc, owns and manages 14,347 rooms in South Africa, other countries in the continent, the Seychelles and the Middle East after the recent termination of management contracts on hotels in Dubai, according to von Aulock.

It’s investing $179 million in refurbishing casinos, hotels and expanding in Africa.

“We are focusing on countries where we already operate,” Von Aulock said.

“Africa is not one homogeneous spot.”

Group adjusted headline earnings for the year rose 24 percent to 1.65 billion rand.

The company said it will increase its dividend by 28 percent to 51 cents a share. - Bloomberg News

Shares of Northam Platinum slide after the precious metals producer says it will rebuild its Zondereinde smelter.

Johannesburg - Shares of Northam Platinum slide more than 3 percent after the precious metals producer says it will rebuild its Zondereinde smelter.

The Zondereinde mine and concentrators will operate normally and concentrate will be treated at other facilities while the rebuild is underway.

Shares were down 3.3 percent at 31.15 rand, lagging the platinum index , which is down 1.9 percent. - Reuters