Trading Day – Growthpoint launches ready-to-occupy office

Growthpoint is taking on WeWork with its ready-to-occupy office concept, known as WorkAgility, allowing tenants to lease office space at six selected Cape Town and Johannesburg buildings.

The office space does not need to be shared in a co-working space arrangement, and clients pay per workstation rather than per square metre.

The concept comes in response to vacancy pressures on the office property sector due to companies shifting to a hybrid working style after the Covid-19 pandemic.

In other news, South African factory activity hit a 14-month low due to load-shedding

Here is the biggest news of the day.

• South African factory activity hits a 14-month low due to load-shedding. The Absa Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) fell from 52.1 to 48.2 in September. Absa believes this is likely due to the intense load-shedding the past month, which led to muted factory activity. The business activity index plummeted from 50.6 to 38.5 points. A score below 50 indicates a contraction.

• Global factory activity has declined, supporting views of a global economic slowdown. Factory activity for numerous countries was released. Factory activity declined for Taiwan, Malaysia, South Korea, Canada, and Turkey. The S&P Global Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) fell to a 27-month low of 48.4 for the Eurozone, with factory activity for constituents – Germany, France, Italy, Greece, Spain, and the UK – also declining. Japan, India, China, Vietnam, and the United States still showed growth, albeit at the slowest pace in roughly two years.

• Growthpoint is launching a ready-to-occupy office concept similar to WeWork. Known as WorkAgility, the offering allows tenants to lease office space at six selected buildings in Cape Town and Johannesburg for periods as short as 12 months. The office space does not need to be shared in a co-working space arrangement, and clients pay per workstation (ranging from 20 – 85) rather than per square metre. The concept comes in response to vacancy pressures on the office property sector due to companies shifting to a hybrid working style after Covid.

• Prosus pulls out of $4.7 billion BillDesk deal. Despite the Competition Commission of India granting approval on 5 September, there were other conditions precedent that was not met by the deadline of 30 September. The deal would have cemented a market position in India alongside existing subsidiary PayU.

• Sibanye now holds 84.96% in Keliber, a lithium group located in Finland. The next step is an equity capital raise by Keliber that would require Sibanye to inject another €104 million. The company is also raising debt to at least match the €250 million equity on the balance sheet.

• Motus reveals the acquisition target to be Motor Parts Direct (UK). Motus will be acquiring 100% of the company for R3.64 billion. They have 175 branches that sell vehicle parts to workshops in and around the UK.

• Oceana Group enters into an agreement to sell Commercial Cold Storage Group, trading as CCS Logistics. The total consideration is R760 million, excluding the minority interests held by CCS Namibia and Duncan Dock. The implied enterprise value if minority interests are included is R895 million.

• Pick n Pay shows strong growth. In a trading update covering the 26 weeks ended August, Pick n Pay reported sales growth of 11.5%. The group attributes a large part of this growth to its Boxer stores. Selling price inflation for the period was 7.2%.

• The Reserve Bank of Australia surprises with a smaller-than-expected rate hike. The interest rate was only increased by 0.25%. The Bank said that it decided to slow the pace of tightening because the cash rate had increased substantially in a short period but left the door open to additional hikes.

• Liz Truss reverses course in response to market turmoil, announcing that Britain’s highest tax rate will no longer be cut.