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04/11
Amalgamated Appliance, AVI, Sasol: South African Equity Preview
By Franz Wild and Mike Cohen
March 7 (Bloomberg) — The following stocks may rise or fall in South Africa. Symbols are in parentheses and prices are from the last close.
The FTSE/JSE Africa All Share Index fell 13.06, or less than 0.1 percent, to 32,337.06 at the 5 p.m. close in Johannesburg.
Amalgamated Appliance Holdings Ltd. (AMA SJ): The seller of brands including Hoover and Pioneer said six-month earnings per share rose 9.6 percent to 12.6 cents. Amalgamated advanced 0.5 percent, or 1 cent, to 1.96 rand.
AVI Ltd. (AVI SJ): The food and cosmetics producer said net income rose 34 percent to 438.9 million rand ($64 million) in the six months through December. AVI advanced 0.8 percent, or 25 cents, to 29.85 rand.
Gijima Group Ltd. (GIJ SJ): The information technology company said it has resolved a dispute with South Africa’s Department of Home Affairs over a disputed contract. Under the settlement, Gijima incurred one-off losses that contributed to the company making a per-share loss of between 27.5 cents and 28.5 cents a share in the six months through December 2010 compared with a year-earlier profit of 8.83 cents. The shares rose 4 cents, or 5.1 percent, to 83 cents.
Sasol Ltd. (SOL SJ): The largest producer of motor fuels made from coal said net income rose 21 percent to 7.6 billion rand in the six months through December as it curbed costs, and oil and chemical prices rose.
Separately, Sasol’s planned $8.8 billion coal-to-liquids project with China Shenhua Group Corp. in Ningxia province won approval from the Chinese environmental ministry, the ministry said on its website today.
The stock fell 1.4 percent, or 5.49 rand, to 384.50 rand.
The following shares and funds begin trading without the right to their latest dividend:
Absa Group Ltd. (ASA AJ), Anglo Platinum Ltd. (AMS SJ), AngloGold Ashanti Ltd. (ANG SJ), ArcelorMittal South Africa Ltd. (ACL SJ), Assore Ltd. (ASR SJ), Atlantic Enhanced Income Fund (ATLENHA SJ), BHP Billiton Plc (BIL SJ), British American Tobacco Plc (BTI SJ), Catalyst SA Property Equity Fund (CATSAPA SJ), Digicore Holdings Ltd. (DGC SJ), Distell Group Ltd. (DST SJ), Emira Property Fund (EMI SJ) Gold Fields Ltd. (GFI SJ), Hospitality Property Fund Ltd. (HPA SJ), Hudaco Industries Ltd. (HDC SJ), Impala Platinum Ltd. (IMP SJ), PSG Advance Wealth International Flexible Fund of Funds (PSGADWF SJ), Pangbourne Properties Ltd. (PAP SJ), Paracon Holdings Ltd. (PCN SJ), Plexus Allrounder Fund (PLEXALR SJ), RMB Holdings Ltd. (RMH SJ), Woolworths Holdings Ltd. (WHL SJ).
Shares or American depositary receipts of the following South African companies closed as follows:
Anglo American Plc (AAUKY US) slipped 2.1 percent to $26.75. AngloGold Ashanti Ltd. (AU US) dropped 2.9 percent to $47.85. BHP Billiton (BBL US) fell 0.1 percent to $80.87. DRDGold Ltd. (DROOY US) gained 1.8 percent to $4.99. Gold Fields Ltd. (GFI US) declined 1.1 percent to $17.58. Harmony Gold Mining Co. (HMY US) climbed 3.1 percent to $12.10. Impala Platinum Holdings (IMPUY US) slipped 2 percent to $29.35. Sappi Ltd. (SPP US) rose 0.8 percent to $5.32. Sasol Ltd. (SSL US) fell 0.9 percent to $55.93.
–With assistance from Nicky Smith in Johannesburg. Editors: Vernon Wessels, Shaji Mathew
To contact the reporters on this story: Franz Wild in Johannesburg at fwild@bloomberg.net; Mike Cohen in Cape Town Nef at mcohen21@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Andrew J. Barden at barden@bloomberg.net