Trading Day – Apple iPhone warning

Apple has warned that Covid restrictions in China are negatively impacting iPhone production.

iPhone 14 production has been temporarily reduced because of Covid-19 restrictions at its primary iPhone assembly plant in Zhengzhou, China.

Twitter is reversing some of Friday’s layoffs after some workers were fired by mistake or were let go before management realized that their skills would be necessary to build some of the new features.

US markets ended the week with a green day, with the S&P 500 closing 1.4% higher and the Nasdaq climbing 1.3%.

The Nikkei 225 followed in its footsteps in early morning trade, up 1.2%. The Hang Seng continued its rebound, as the index rose 3% this morning.

In local news, Redefine Properties reported a healthy increase in earnings in its annual results, with headline earnings per share (HEPS) for the year increasing 16% to R0.84.

Here is the biggest news of the day.

• Twitter backtracks on layoffs. The company is reversing some of Friday’s layoffs after some workers were fired by mistake or were let go before management realized that their skills would be necessary to build some of the new features envisioned by Musk. Twitter laid off close to 3700 workers on Friday and paid them three months severance.

• Apple warns that Covid restrictions in China are negatively impacting iPhone production. iPhone 14 production has been temporarily reduced because of Covid-19 restrictions at its primary iPhone assembly plant in Zhengzhou, China. The factory, operated by Foxconn, is operating at “significantly reduced capacity,” Apple said. It warned that it would ship fewer units and that customers would experience longer wait times, but demand for the affected models continues to be strong.

• Redefine Properties reports a healthy increase in earnings in its annual results. Headline earnings per share (HEPS) for the year is up 16% to R0.84, while revenue increased 15% to R8.2 billion. Net asset value (NAV) per share improved by 5% to R7.20. Redefine declared a cash dividend of R0.19 per share, bringing the total dividend for the year to R0.43, which is 29% lower than last year.

• Raubex reports a healthy increase in earnings for its interim results. Headline earnings per share (HEPS) for the half-year period is up 16% to R1.59, while revenue increased 23% to R7.4 billion. The company also received a solid bump in cash flow, with cash generated from operating activities increasing 146% to R589 million. Raubex declared an interim dividend of R0.53 per share.

• African Equity Empowerment Investments (AEEI) sells Sygnia shares for 10% discount in related party transactions. AEEI will sell 1 188 916 ordinary Sygnia Limited shares to Sekunjalo Investment Holdings for 90% of the volume-weighted average trading price for 30 consecutive trading days before 30 September. Sekunjalo holds a 66% stake in AEEI. AEEI states that the reason for the sale is to raise liquidity.

• Invicta Holdings expects a decline in earnings. Earnings per share (EPS) is expected to decrease roughly 52% to around R2.77, down from R5.62. However, headline earnings per share are expected to increase roughly 43% to around R2.68, up from R1.88.

• SA Corporate Real Estate appoints Nomzamo Radebe as Chief Operating Officer and executive director with effect from February 2023. Nomzamo is a qualified CA(SA) and is presently the Chief Executive Officer of Excellerate JHI, a division of Excellerate Property Services.