In Monday’s trading session in the local markets, the Top 40 closed the day up by 0.62%, the Resources 10 sector went down by 2.33%, the Financial 15 went up by 0.97%, and the Industrial 25 went up by 1.83%. The rand traded at R18.25 against the dollar, R21.96 against the pound, and R19.48 against the euro.
In yesterday’s trading session, Bidvest Group Limited (JO:BVTJ) released their respective interim results where revenue went up by 14% and the trading profit increased by 14.5% and declared an interim dividend of 437 cents per share which the company had a five-fold increase in demand for renewable energy products. The share price reached all-time highs following a 15.29% intraday surge in response to the results.
Figure 1: Bidvest Historical Share Price Chart (Source: ThinkTrader Web)
This morning Nedbank (JO:NEDJ) and Mpact (JO:MPTJ) reported their annual results for the period which ended on the 31st of December 2022 and Shoprite reported their interim results.
After reporting strong revenue growth during its 2022 fiscal year, Nedbank has declared the highest dividend it has ever paid. Nedbank's headline earnings increased by 20% to R14 billion, while its ROE increased by 14% from 12.5% previously. For the year that ended in December 2022, the company declared a final dividend of 866 cents per share.
Mpact also had a good year thanks to our robust operations and strong financial performance. Operating profits are up by 23% and earnings per share are also up by almost 27%.
Shoprite’s (JO:SHPJ) interim results boasted a 16.8% increase in headline revenue and a 20.8% increase in the profit before income tax and the board declared an interim dividend of ZAR 2.48.
On the commodities front, brent crude oil is trading at $86.32 a barrel and WTI crude oil is trading at $80.66 a barrel. Gold is currently trading at $1850.10. Platinum is now trading at $972.30 and lastly, palladium is at $1440.98.
Across the globe, the S&P 500 closed the day up by 0.07%, the Dow Jones closed the day up by 0.12% and the Nasdaq closed down by 0.11%. The FTSE 100 was down by 0.22%, the DAX was up by 0.48% and CAC40 was up by 0.34%. In the Asian markets, the Nikkei 225 is currently up by 1.11% and the Heng Seng is currently up by 0.13%.
