Local equity markets continued to trade strongly on Wednesday as a weaker US Dollar helped to bring relief to the battered emerging markets, which have been under significant pressure year-to-date. On the day, the iShares Emerging Markets ETF advanced by 0.79%, continuing to bounce off the YTD lows. On the JSE the All Share Index closed higher by 1.64% while the Top 40 added 1.83%. Leading the way higher was Aspen Pharmacare and Mediclinic that added 5.95% and 4.77% respectively while Quilter and Bidcorp lost 6.83% and 2.19% respectively. In Europe, the DAX was unchanged (+0.01%), while the FTSE 100 and CAC 40 added 0.11% and 0.22% respectively.
JSE Major Sectors
Resources 10 +1.53%
Industrial 25 +2.16%
Financial 15 +1.22%
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In currencies, the South African Rand trades as follows:
USDZAR +1.61% to 14.38
GBPZAR +1.35% to 18.52
EURZAR +1.24% to 16.62
Gold trades at $1198
Platinum at $788
Brent Crude Oil at $74.60
International Markets
This morning, Asian equities are as follows:
Nikkei 225 (+0.36%)
Hang Seng (-0.35%)
Shanghai Composite (-0.38%)
Latam Markets closed as follows:
Merval 25 (+3.07%)
Bovespa (+2.29%)
INMEX (+1.18%)
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Company News
Bidvest Group - Trading Statement
In accordance with Section 3.4(b) (i) of the JSE Listings Requirements, listed companies are required to publish a trading statement as soon as they become reasonably certain that the financial results for the period to be reported will differ by at least 20% from those of the previous corresponding period. Shareholders are advised that:
- The normalised headline earnings per share (HEPS) for the year to 30 June 2018 is expected to be between 11% and 14% higher than the prior year (2017: 1 115.4 cents), translating into normalised HEPS of between 1 238 cents and 1 272 cents. Normalised HEPS, which excludes acquisition costs and amortisation of acquired customer contracts, is a measurement management uses to assess the underlying business performance.
- The HEPS for the year to 30 June 2018 is expected to be between 10% and 12% higher than the prior year (2017: 1 108.2 cents), translating into HEPS of between 1 219 cents and 1 241 cents.
- Basic earnings per share (EPS) for the year to 30 June 2018 is expected to be between 19% and 22% lower, translating into EPS of between 1 116 cents and 1 159 cents, when compared to the previous twelve months (2017: 1 430.3 cents). This is primarily due to a contraction in the share prices of our associates, Adcock Ingram and Comair, compared to material share price increases in the prior year.
The financial information on which this trading statement is based has not been reviewed and reported on by the Group’s auditors. The Group expects its results for the year ended 30 June 2018 to be released on SENS on or about the 3rd of September 2018.
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Aus miners:
BHP Billiton (+1.26%)
Rio Tinto (+0.43%)
S32 (+5.67%)
FANGs
Facebook (+0.59%)
Amazon (+1.14%)
Netflix (+1.90%)
Google (+0.36%)
FTSE Miners:
Anglo American plc (+0.91%)
BHP Billiton plc (+1.58%)
Glencore plc (+0.38%)
Alibaba Holdings (-0.01%)
Tencent Holdings (+0.17%)
For any assistance or trading related queries, please contact the Unum Trading desk on 011 384 2929