Rand survives 67% drop in demand for government bonds

JSE-listed companies expected to report on Wednesday include Cartrack, which said on October 9 that its interim headline earnings per share (HEPS) for the six months to end-August grew by up to 30%.

Cartrack joined the list of companies saying its results would be distorted by complying with version 16 of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS).

“Most significantly, the group now treats cash sales in the same manner as rental sales by capitalising the cost of the unit and other incremental costs and depreciating these capitalised costs over a period of between 12 [and] 60 months,” the trading statement said.

“Similarly, revenue is recognised over a period of between 12 [and] 60 months, irrespective [of] whether [it is] a rental or a cash sale. These new standards, better align the reporting of Cartrack’s results to its competitors and will allow improved year-on-year comparisons.0148

The SA Revenue Service (Sars) is scheduled to release September’s balance of trade figures at 2pm.

The economists consensus is for SA’s trade surplus to have more than halved from August’s R8.8bn to about R4bn.

“We are of the view that the trade account will yield another surplus in September, albeit a notably smaller one in the region of R3bn,” Investec Bank economist Lara Hodes.

“Month-to-month trade figures are often very volatile, but importantly on a trend basis, the trade account has averaged around R4.9bn over the last 12 months.

“Strong export performance, which is primarily a function of higher commodity prices and robust global growth has driven most of this favourable trend.”

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