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PROPERTY
DEVELOPMENT, ENGINEERING AND CONSTRUCTION
CBD
revival gaining ground
Measures to clean up and develop SA's city centres are bringing
investors back SPURRED on by development initiatives and crime-prevention
measures, SA's ailing central business districts (CBDs) are experiencing
a new lease of life.
(©www.bday.co.za)
Property
still offers rewards for investors
Buying and investment in property is on the upswing, fuelled by
the downward trend in interest rates, although oversupply in the
office market remains an issue. In addition, following two decades
of negative growth, the SA residential property market looks set
to continue its revival, say property analysts, and should withstand
the international economic fall-out from last month's terrorist
attacks in the US and their aftermath.
(©www.bday.co.za)
Listed
property gains favour
Listed property vehicles are gaining in popularity as a means of
investing in property.
Many institutional investors, who used to provide the funding backbone
for property developments, are reducing the percentage of the portfolios
they hold in direct property investments such as office buildings
or shopping centres.
(©www.bday.co.za)
Good
questions to help with CGT
For the average person much confusion exists regarding capital gains
tax (CGT) and its effects. The following are the most commonly asked
questions:
Is it an advantage to transfer a residential property out of a company,
trust or closed corporation?
What about the loss of the saving on transfer duty in the would
be purchaser's hands?
What about long term estate duty, and what about the loss of protection
against creditors?
(©www.busrep.co.za)
LeisureNet's
tardy disclosure led to partner's fire sale
Cape Town - A week before LeisureNet and its subsidiaries were placed
in provisional liquidation, directors of one of its offshore partners
learned for the first time the extent of its financial difficulties,
the LeisureNet inquiry was told yesterday.
(©www.busrep.co.za)
Aveng
goes places where angels fear to tread and multinationals keep out
The true test of strategy lies in achieving earnings growth in an
environment that doesn't offer much promise.This is a slightly paraphrased
comment from this year's annual report of construction and engineering
group Aveng. It sums up the unrecognised skills South African companies
have developed by flourishing in areas of the planet where their
developed world cousins fear to tread.
(©www.busrep.co.za)
Renewal
project begins
Construction on the R700m Constitutional Hill project began with
a sod- turning ceremony in Braamfontein last week. The first phase
of the development is a 12000m² building that will house the
Constitutional Court. It is to be completed in the next 22 months.
(©www.bday.co.za)
Job
losses loom at ABB's SA operation
SA was not likely to escape the global wave of 12000 job cuts implemented
by Swiss-Swedish engineering multinational ABB, CE of ABB's African
and Middle East division Carlos Pone said yesterday. The company
announced from its Zurich headquarters that net profit fell 76%
in the first nine months of this year and orders fell 8%, compared
with the first three quarters of last year.
(©www.bday.co.za)
Point
project in new hands
Moreland has task of turning much-delayed development into realisable
goal. Moreland Properties will project-manage the Shaka Island marine
development, an ambitious project proposed for Durban's Point area.
Conceived nearly 20 years ago, the waterfront development failed
to materialise in the hands of property services company Colliers
RMS and Malaysian-led consortium Rocpoint.
(©www.bday.co.za)
Airport
Development, Western Cape
Airports Company South Africa (Acsa) is extending and upgrading
the international departures terminal at Cape Town International
Airport into a world class facility in a construction contract with
an overall value of over R50-million. PIP, September 28 reported
that a joint venture of Murray and Roberts and RR Roberts has been
awarded the principal contract to upgrade and extend the terminal.
(©www.engineeringnews.co.za)
Initial
work begins at Coega
Construction has started on a portable water break-pressure tank
and pipelines to provide water to the proposed Coega Industrial
Development Zone (IDZ) once full-scale construction gets under way
in the zone.
The break-pressure tank, a reinforced concrete reservoir, is necessary
to operate the bulk water-supply main for the Coega area.
(©www.engineeringnews.co.za)
Iscor
has a thing or two to teach US
Who would have believed it a year ago? A month from now, steel and
mining group Iscor Limited will cease to exist, with the separate
listing of its mining division, Kumba Resources. And, if CE Louis
van Niekerk is to be believed, Iscor's Vanderbijlpark and Newcastle
works are the lowest-cost steel producers, not only in SA but in
the whole world.
(©www.bday.co.za)
Saldanha
iron plant can save SA millions
THE Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) and government's minerals
research body Mintek are discussing the possibility of saving SA
hundreds of millions of rands a year in foreign exchange by setting
up a $50m plant to make iron ore pellets, possibly at Saldanha Bay.
(©www.bday.co.za)
NEWS
FROM AFRICA
Moz
partners pledge $722m
Maputo - Mozambique's main international partners have pledged a
total of $722 million in aid for the southern African state in the
fiscal year 2002, the World Bank said on Saturday. A press release
issued by the World Bank after two days of consultative talks with
the Mozambican government said the aid package is aimed at supporting
the country's still fragile economy. About 45% of the general state
budget is covered by external aid.
(©news.24.com)
Nigeria
plans big LPG investment
Techno Oil Nigeria has concluded arrangements to establish a liquefied
petroleum gas (LPG) extraction plant worth about R50-million in
the Niger Delta in order to boost operations of the company.
Techno Oil GM Nkechi Obi said that construction of the first phase
of an LPG extraction plant would start during the first quarter
of next year, reports the Financial Standard.
(©www.engineeringnews.co.za)
HOUSING
NEWS AND LAND ISSUES
Angry
families threaten to sue Sapref
Durban - Angry families living in Durban's southern industrial basin
are considering legal action against the SA Petroleum Refineries
(Sapref) following a massive petrol leak in July from a pipeline.
(©www.busrep.co.za)
MINING
NEWS
Scientists
prepare for sci-fi gold rush
South Africa could lead the new gold rush to the final frontier
- space.
(©www.busrep.co.za)
Gold
Fields smoothes Free State mine plan
Consolidation of the Free State gold mining industry got a shot
in the arm yesterday when Gold Fields, the country's second biggest
gold producer, offered the ARM-Harmony joint venture an exclusive
option to negotiate for two of its Free State mines.
(©www.bday.co.za)
Fluorspar
producer is well placed
When German chemicals group Bayer decided that it no longer needed
to own or control its raw materials sources in the late-1990s, it
might simply have sold and walked away from a number of mines. But
while ownership of noncore assets might no longer be felt necessary,
the need to have access to their products is.That was the case with
the Vergenoeg fluorspar mine, located near Rust der Winter, north
of Pretoria. Bayer sold the Vergenoeg mine to junior mining company
Metorex for an undisclosed sum, but it left in place a three-year
agreement to buy part of Vergenoeg's product, so the mine was, for
a time, to remain a dedicated supplier to its former owner.
(©www.bday.co.za)
Playing
to government gallery over ageing mines
Political gamesmanship or a real desire to consolidate? With the
latest attempt to consolidate the Free State gold fields in full
swing, it can only be hoped that the parties concerned are serious
about the mining part of it and that the political overtones are
merely there to satisfy government's ears.
(©www.bday.co.za)
Iscor
blames delay on trade ministry
Shareholders in steel and mining group Iscor have been told by chairman
Hans Smith that the trade and industry department was responsible
for the delay in the unbundling of the company. Iscor management
has come under fire from some shareholders notably Anglovaal Mining,
which holds 11% of the stock who have been impatient to see the
unlocking of value, which should follow the unbundling of Iscor
into separately listed steel and mining companies.
(©www.bday.co.za)
Harmony
laughs at bid
Harmony Gold has rejected Khumo Bathong mining consortium's R400m
bid for its Free State mines as "laughable". The consortium
said yesterday it had bid for the seven Harmony Gold mines as it
moved to develop its plans to consolidate gold-mining in the Free
State.
(©www.bday.co.za)
Rand
gold price boosts Harmony
SA's third-largest gold miner says earnings a share have risen from
37c to 64c in quarter to September
Resources Correspondent. Harmony Gold, which is in a standoff with
the Khumo Bathong consortium for AngloGold's Free State assets,
recorded headline earnings a share up 73% in the quarter to September
30. SA's third-largest gold miner, said earnings a share rose from
37c to 64c in the three months on the rising rand gold price. The
review period is the first quarter of Harmony's fiscal year.
(©www.bday.co.za)
SA's
gold industry
It felt for a moment as if Johannesburg had that old mining town
buzz back again when a Kebble-led consortium launched a counterbid
for AngloGold's Free State assets last week. Moreover, in the same
week, marginal mine Durban Roodepoort Deep came out with pretty
encouraging quarterly results.
(©www.bday.co.za)
IDC
has no plans to sell interest in Iscor for a mere song
ABID by Indian steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal speedily to acquire
a stake in the steel assets of Iscor was dealt a blow last night
when Iscor's largest shareholder said its holding was not for sale.
The Industrial Development Corporation (IDC), will hold 17,6% of
Iscor Steel, after the group is unbundled, which is due to happen
on November 26.
(©www.bday.co.za)
Avmin
no longer Iscor's biggest shareholder
Anglovaal Mining (Avmin) is no longer Iscor's largest shareholder,
it emerged yesterday. Avmin's annual report shows that its holding
in Iscor fell last month to just below the number of shares held
by the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC). The report showed
that Avmin granted a call option for 9,5-million of its shares to
a financial institution, and on September 19, options on 4,2-million
shares were exercised, taking these out of the Avmin portfolio.
(©www.bday.co.za)
Steel
man Smith gets a R5m golden handshake
ISCOR chairman Hans Smith got a R5m golden handshake when he stood
down at the end of June from his executive position. This was disclosed
in the company's annual report, which was released yesterday. Iscor
spokesman Phaldie Kalam said Smith got the R5m partly as a restraint
of trade. "These payments are standard practice for a CE of
Hans Smith's caliber," he said.
(©www.bday.co.za)
Iscor
doubles Q1 operating profit
Steel and mining company Iscor Ltd on Thursday reported a first
quarter operating profit of R488-million, up from R208-million in
the first quarter last year. Iscor said the increase was due mainly
to higher sales volumes in both mining and steel operations. "The
impact of the weaker currency was offset to some extent by the drop
in steel and zinc prices," the company said in a statement.
(©www.bday.co.za)
Sishen may boost capacity for Iscor
Iscor's Sishen mine could boost its production by 50%, company chairman
Hans Smith announced in Iscor's latest annual report, published
yesterday. Sishen is one of the most profitable divisions of Iscor,
which is to be unbundled into separate steel and mining companies
by the end of this year. Sishen produced 24,8-million tons of ore
in the year to June. Iscor predicts an expansion to 26,5-million
tons this year, reaching 27-million tons by July 2003.
(©www.bday.co.za)
Gold
Fields in $41.3m Ghana deal
Gold Fields Ltd, SA's second-biggest gold producer, and Toronto-listed
mining royalty company Repadre Capital Corp, are to buy the Damang
Gold Mine in Ghana from Australian exploration and mining company
Ranger Minerals Ltd in a cash and share transaction worth some US$41.3-million.
(©www.bday.co.za)
AngloGold gets chief operating officer
Anglogold, the world's largest gold company, is set to announce
the appointment of a new chief operating officer this morning. Dave
Hodgson, 53, currently in charge of the SA operations, has been
appointed chief operating officer, according to sources close to
the company.
(©www.bday.co.za)
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