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PROPERTY
DEVELOPMENT, ENGINEERING AND CONSTRUCTION
Investors
look to property for yields
Great low-risk opportunities exist for retirement funds to invest
some of their assets in listed shares on the property loan stock
(PLS) sector of the JSE Securities Exchange SA (JSE). Ian Anderson,
investment strategist for income specialists Marriott Asset Management,
says the PLS provides institutional and individual investors with
access to stable cash flows from the rental income streams from
commercial, industrial and retail property in SA.
(©www.bday.co.za)
Property
breaks new ground
Johannesburg - Ignore the property market at your peril. That's
the message from Glenn Silverman, the chief investment officer at
multimanager Investment Solutions, whose research has shown that
property has outperformed both equities and bonds over the past
three years.
(©www.busrep.co.za)
Projects
help to halt SA's engineering brain drain
Local companies are making a mark in the international technology
development arena by supplying world-class research and development
solutions to offshore customers. Azisa, for instance, provides design,
development and sustaining services to a niche sector of the international
telecommunications and internet commerce industries.
(©www.bday.co.za)
Consolidation
era for consulting engineers
The consulting engineering fraternity will probably
experience an era of mergers and acquisitions, and many consulting
engineering firms, especially small and medium-sized enterprises
will probably re-evaluate their focus and not try to be all things
to all people, says South African Association of Consulting Engineering
(Saace) president Peter Silbernagl.
(©www.engineeringnews.co.za)
Black-empowerment
trend picks up speed in consulting engineering
South African Association of Consulting Engineers
(Saace) executive director Graham Pirie says the recent merger between
black-owned consulting firm Goba Moahloli & Associates and well-established
consultancy Keeve Steyn is the latest in a trend which is set to
continue.
(©www.engineeringnews.co.za)
Frankenwald
project could pay off for Wits
FRANKENWALD Estate, property owned by the University of the Witwatersrand,
is set to realise its commercial value. The 290ha estate, bequeathed
to the university, is in the N3 development corridor between Kelvin,
Buccleuch, Linbro Park and Woodmead. Anthony Diepenbroek, MD of
iProp Holdings, which will facilitate the establishment of a mixed-use
development on the site for Wits, says iProp is to negotiate the
land's use with the local authorities and surrounding land owners.
(©www.bday.co.za)
Investors
eye conservation angle
Sparrebosch, an R800m residential golf estate in Knysna, could be
linked to a proposed project mixing nature conservation and residential
estate. Investors Keith Stewart and Clive Venning have bought the
Sparrebosch golf course and clubhouse from PK Developments and are
said to be interested in linking it with Pezula, a proposed residential
and nature conservation project to be developed on 630ha on the
eastern side of the golf course. Pezula, which has 200ha of indigenous
forest declared a conservation
(©www.bday.co.za)
Besieged
Coega terminates contract with Cape consulting firm
Johannesburg - The besieged Coega Development Corporation (CDC)
has terminated a contract with a Cape-based consulting firm, to
establish a forum to resolve differences between stakeholders in
the debate around the development.
(©www.busrep.co.za)
Weak
rand, share buy-back help boost Ozz's earnings
The company has exited property investments and is now focusing
on core activities in the production of castings
Listed engineering company Ozz benefited from a weaker rand, a share
buy-back, and improved management of its casting foundries to secure
a 55,4% jump in headline earnings in the six months to September,
the company announced on Friday.
(©www.bday.co.za)
Building
an African rail icon
An incredible level of consensus appears to have emerged between
the key social partners – government, management and labour
– at State-owned rail company Spoornet over the last few months.
This is all the more remarkable given that this was far from the
case at the start of the year, when it appeared that the three were
on course for a collision.
(©www.engineeringnews.co.za)
From
fixed-schedule to dynamic deployment
At the heart of Spoornet's current internal systems-development
programme is an attempt to move the railways away from their fixed-schedule
tradition and create a business model that is able to deploy resources
dynamically to demand.
(©www.engineeringnews.co.za)
Saudi
pipes firm invests R50m in SA
The Saudi Arabian Amiantit group has expanded into the South African
pipe market with a R50-million investment comprising acquisitions
and the establishment of a new manufacturing facility in Alrode,
Alberton.
The specialist pipe company is listed on the Saudi Stock Exchange
with a market capitalisation of more than $400-million.
(©www.engineeringnews.co.za)
Amiantit
to open plant in Alrode
Cape Town Saudi pipe manufacturer Amiantit, which entered the SA
market earlier this year by acquiring Somerset West-based glassreinforced
polyester (GRP) pipe producer Flowtite Vectus, is establishing a
new manufacturing facility in Alrode, Alberton. Amiantit Pipe Systems
Africa MD Derek Pitfield says in addition to the new facility, acquisitions
currently under negotiation are likely to take the company's total
new investment to about R50m.
(©www.bday.co.za)
Iscor
rockets 32% as investors see value
Shares in Iscor rocketed by more than 30% in mid-session trade on
Friday, as investors ploughed into the steel group which they see
as undervalued, dealers said. At 13h33 Iscor shares were up 30.65%
at 810 cents, after closing on Thursday at 620 cents. It earlier
peaked at 820 cents. The Johannesburg bourse was 2.45% higher, driven
by mining stocks which benefited from the weak rand currency.
(©www.bday.co.za)
Deal
with global steel giant LNM saves Iscor from slow death'
SA's largest steel producer, Iscor, which will be separately listed
from today after the unbundling of its mining division, Kumba, has
been saved from a "slow death" thanks to a business assistance
deal with global steel giant LNM, the parent company of Ispat.
(©www.bday.co.za)
National
register of contractors on cards
The recently-established Construction Industry Development Board
(CIDB) is to compile a national register which categorises contractors
for public-sector work, in an effort to screen out “fly by
nights” which destabilise the industry.
(©www.engineeringnews.co.za)
NEWS
FROM AFRICA
Zimbabwean
cement firms out of order
Harare - Four Zimbabwe cement producers, including units of South
Africa's Barloworld and France's Lafarge, stopped taking new orders
after the government told them to halve their prices, the state-controlled
Herald reported yesterday, citing company and government officials.
(©www.busrep.co.za)
Two
shortlisted for Nigeria aluminium smelter
Nigeria has shortlisted UK-based BHP Billiton and Switzerland’s
Glencore International in its search for a technical partner to
revive its troubled 193 000-ton-capacity aluminium smelter, officials
said. The technical vacuum was created by the withdrawal of US partner
Reynolds Metals from the Alumunium Smelter Company of Nigeria (Alscon)
last December
(©www.engineeringnews.co.za)
$2bn
Angolan gas project delayed
The merger of US firm ChevronTexaco and efforts to add partners
to a proposed $2-billion liquid natural gas (LNG) plant in Luanda
have delayed the project by at least a year, the company’s
MD in Angola said.“The merger and taking additional partners
on has taken longer than anyone thought,” stated John Gass.
Texaco, which launched the project about three years ago, had originally
scheduled first gas in 2005, but said it would now likely be in
late 2006
(©www.engineeringnews.co.za)
385
MW power project for Morocco
German firm Siemens has agreed to build a 385 MW power plant in
northern Morocco at a cost of $250-million, a Moroccan government
official said. “Siemens has joined State-run power utility
Office National de l; Electricite (One) and Spanish Endesa in the
capital of Tahadart Energy Company,” the official said.
(©www.engineeringnews.co.za)
HOUSING
NEWS AND LAND ISSUES
Iscor
calls 'pollutionist' back
Vanderbijl Park - Iscor on Friday dropped all charges against Dr
Pieter van Eeden, the company's pollution technologist who was suspended
for leaking information on the extent of the pollution, and requested
that he be back at work on Monday.
(©www.news24.co.za)
MINING
NEWS
Cash
rules in bidding battle for Normandy
AngloGold raised the stakes in its face-off with US-based Newmont
Mining for Australian gold miner Normandy yesterday, introducing
a cash sweetener that boosts its original bid by 16%. The world's
largest gold producer increased its offer from the A1,42 for each
Normandy share, tabled more than three months ago, to A1,65 based
on its closing share price in New York on Wednesday.
(©www.bday.co.za)
AngloGold
may give up Normandy battle
Johannesburg - AngloGold would walk away from the fight for Australian
gold producer Normandy Mining if its revised bid failed, Bobby Godsell,
the chairman and chief executive of AngloGold, told analysts yesterday.
(©www.busrep.co.za)
AngloGold
to contest Newmont offer
The battle for Australia's Normandy Mining edged
closer to full-scale war yesterday, when AngloGold said it would
present the Australian Takeovers Panel with a submission outlining
elements of the Newmont offer for Normandy that it believes are
in conflict with Australian law.
(©www.bday.co.za)
Iscor
shares slip on Kumba debut
Shares in Iscor steel company and new mining spin-off Kumba slipped
in quiet but firm JSE trade on Monday as investors repositioned
themselves on the two companies, dealers said. Iscor lost 5.83%
or 35 cents to 565 cents and Kumba was trading at R29.25 at 11h52,
from its R29.80 opening.
(©www.bday.co.za)
Demanding
times for Trans Hex
Trans Hex, the listed alluvial and ocean diamond mining group, has
reported a 41,6% decline in headline earnings a share (EPS) for
the six months ended September 30 to 46,9c from 80,3c for the corresponding
period the year before. However, the group declared an interim divided
of 15,5c a share, a 10,7% increase from 14c a share in the previous
year. Announcing the interim results on Friday, CEO Calvyn Gardner
reaffirmed the company's target of producing 211400 carats in the
current financial year. He said an oversupply of rough and polished
diamonds, coupled with an economic slowdown in the US the world's
largest jewellery market had contributed to a demanding trading
period for niche producer Trans Hex.
(©www.bday.co.za)
Smith
steels himself for R20m share profit
Former steel tycoon Hans Smith has made an estimated profit of R20m
or more on the shares he held in Iscor, the company which he helped
transform from an inefficient parastatal into finely tuned unbundled
steel and mining groups. Smith revealed yesterday that he had cashed
in the share options he held in Iscor, which was unbundled this
week into a steel company and mining group Kumba Resources.
(©www.bday.co.za)
Lonmin
beats its production timetable
Lonmin, the London-based mining company with significant platinum
group metal activities in SA, said yesterday it was on track to
meet its SA platinum production target in 2003 five years ahead
of schedule. Peter Ledger, managing director of Lonmin Plats, Lonmin's
SA platinum metals mining business, said: "We will have 875000oz
of refined output by 2003 five years earlier than previously stated.
We now believe we can get refined output up to 1-million ounces
by 2008."
(©www.bday.co.za)
Kumba
looks at Australian zinc assets
Perth Listed SA miner Kumba Resources says it is interested in acquiring
Australian zinc assets, including mines owned by cashstrapped metals
group Pasminco. Kumba, the former mining division of Iscor, operates
the Zincor zinc smelter in SA and the Rosh Pinah zinc mine in Namibia.
(©www.bday.co.za)
Mining
company to close plant
BHP Billiton is to close its Palmiet ferrochrome operation in Krugersdorp
today, cutting annual capacity of the depressed ferrochrome market
by 110000 tons. The plant operated by Samancor Chrome a 60-40 BHP
Billiton-Anglo American joint venture closed its two submerged arc
furnaces (combined installed ferrochrome capacity of 60000 tons
a year) last year as demand and the price slumped.
(©www.bday.co.za)
Harmony
hopes be lord of the rings
The SA gold industry has cast itself in a special role in the launch
of the world's most anticipated film, the $350m epic The Lord of
the Rings. Harmony Gold Mining Company has joined up with New Line
Cinema, the producers of the film, to secure the licence to produce
18-carat gold rings inscribed with text from the JRR Tolkien novel
on which the film is based.
(©www.bday.co.za)
Trans
Hex takes radical steps to lower its costs
Diamond miner Trans Hex is introducing a number of cost-cutting
measures after its earnings slumped as the slowdown in the US, the
world's largest market for retail diamonds, kicked in. The Cape
Town-based firm, which mines diamonds from the ocean bed and alluvial
deposits, reported interim headline earnings for the six months
to end-September down 42% at the end of last week.
(©www.bday.co.za)
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