MARKET COMMENTARY

SOUTH AFRICAN MARKET COMMENTARY

Stocks on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange traded flat yesterday, as the All-Share index ended flat at 80,021. The Top-40 index also ended the day close to where it started. Investors were looking towards last night's State of the Nation speech, to determine the South African government's way forward in regard to the country's worsening energy crisis. In sector news, Retailers led gains, up 1.27% by the close of the session. Looking at company news, Alphamin led losses yesterday, shedding almost 4.8% while on the other end of the scale Lightprop was up 3.5% to lead gains.

EUROPEAN MARKET COMMENTARY

European markets closed higher yesterday as investors looked towards corporate earnings and economic data for guidance. The Stoxx 600 closed 0.6% higher, with most sectors and major bourses finishing in the green. Industrial stocks looked strongest, leading gains with a 1.7% jump. In company news, Credit Suisse tumbled 15% after reporting a huge annual loss and shares of Standard Chartered jumped 11% on rumours of a potential takeover by First Abu Dhabi Bank.

US MARKET COMMENTARY

US stocks traded lower yesterday, giving up earlier gains as enthusiasm about the latest batch of corporate earnings were dampened by concerns over the Federal Reserve's future moves. Shares in Google-parent Alphabet slid more than 4% while Meta dropped 3% dragging the Nasdaq down. Meanwhile, Disney shares closed more than 1% lower after it posted smaller-than-expected subscriber losses and PepsiCo advanced nearly 1% on the back of a good fourth-quarter earnings report.

ASIA MARKET COMMENTARY

Asia-Pacific stocks traded mixed this morning, following moves on Wall Street as China's inflation data came in at 2.1% for January, slightly less than the expected 2.2% reading. Meanwhile, Japan's wholesale prices rose 9.5% in January, slightly lower than the revised December figure of 10.5%. In Australia, investors digested the Reserve Bank of Australia's statement on monetary policy indicating further hikes ahead. In company news, Toyota shares were up more than 1% yesterday after the company's third-quarter earnings, revenue, and operating profit beat analyst expectations.

COMMODITY MARKET COMMENTARY

Gold prices traded mostly flat this morning and were heading for their second straight weekly decline, with the prospect of more interest rate hikes by the US Federal Reserve weighing on bullion's appeal. Elsewhere, oil prices fell in early trade today but were headed for a weekly gain with the market continuing to seesaw between fears of a recession hitting the United States and hopes for strong fuel demand recovery in China, the world's top oil importer.

CURRENCY MARKET COMMENTARY

The rand was slightly softer yesterday as investors awaited President Cyril Ramaphosa's State of the Nation address. At the close of the session, the rand traded at R17.80 against the dollar, 0.2% softer. Meanwhile, the dollar was on the back foot this morning after an overnight slide as investors showed caution ahead of US inflation data being released next week. Compared to the dollar, the euro and sterling were both down on the day.

LOCAL COMPANIES

SPUR CORPORATION LIMITED (SUR) +4.24%

Earnings per share (EPS) for the six months ended 31 December 2022 are expected to be between 135.45 and 139.96 cents per share, an increase of between 194% and 204% from the restated EPS of 46.02 cents per share for the six months ended 31 December 2021. Headline earnings per share (HEPS) are expected to have increased by between 194% and 204% from 45.94 cents per share for the six months ended 31 December 2021 to between 135.29 and 138.80 cents per share. Franchised restaurant sales for the period are 31.5% higher than the already improved sales base achieved in the six months to December 2021 ("previous comparable period"). Sales for the period are 21.1% higher than the six months from January 2022 to June 2022.

BRITISH AMERICAN TOBACCO PLC (BTI) -2.42%

The group reported that profit from operations was up 2.8%, with operating margin down 170 bps and reported diluted EPS down 1.3%. Adjusted profit from operations increased 11.3% (or 4.3% at constant currency) with adjusted diluted EPS up 12.9%, or 5.8% at constant currency, delivering at the top end of our mid-single digit guidance. The Board has declared an interim dividend of 230.9p per ordinary share of 25p, for the year ended 31 December 2022, payable in four equal quarterly instalments of 57.72p per ordinary share in May 2023, August 2023, November 2023 and February 2024. This represents an increase of 6.0% on 2021 (2021: 217.8p per share), and a pay-out ratio, on 2022 adjusted diluted earnings per share, of 62.2%.

EMIRA PROPERTY FUND LIMITED (EMI) +4.33%

Emira uses distribution per share ("DPS") as its relevant measure of financial performance. Shareholders and noteholders are advised that the Company expects its DPS for the six months ended 31 December 2022 to be between 65.08 and 66.49 cents per share, being between 15 and 17,5% higher than the DPS for the six months ended 31 December 2021 of 56.59 cents per share.

INTERNATIONAL COMPANIES

Expedia (EXPE) -1.21%

The company's bottom line totalled $177 million, or $1.11 per share which compared with $276 million, or $1.70 per share, in last year's fourth quarter, is a notable decline. Expedia reported adjusted earnings of $196 million or $1.26 per share for the period, slightly lower than the $1.67 per share expected by analysts. Q4 revenue came in at $2.62 billion from $2.28 billion a year earlier, an increase of 14.9%.

PayPal (PYPL) -1.63%

PayPal said it expects full year adjusted profit of roughly $4.87 on a per share basis with analysts expecting $4.75 per share, according to Refinitiv. PayPal earned a profit of $1.24 per share on an adjusted basis in the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, beating analyst estimates of $1.20 per share. Its revenue rose 9% on an FX-neutral basis to $7.4 billion. Last week, PayPal said it will lay off 7% of its workforce, or about 2,000 employees. In an unusual move, PayPal said it will not provide a forecast for full-year revenue growth due to macroeconomic pressures on consumers being very unpredictable. Shares in the payments heavyweight fell 1% in extended trading yesterday.

Yahoo

In an announcement made yesterday, Yahoo said they will lay off more than 20% of its workforce by the end of 2023, eliminating 1,000 positions this week alone. The layoffs are part of a broader effort by the company to streamline operations in Yahoo's advertising unit. Yahoo said they would now shift efforts to its 30-year partnership with Taboola, a digital advertising company, to satisfy ad services. The company said that they would provide severance packages to domestic employees who had lost their jobs but couldn't provide further details.

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Sasfin Holdings Limited published this content on 10 February 2023 and is solely responsible for the information contained therein. Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 10 February 2023 06:49:02 UTC.