Cigarettes Are Fading. Nicotine Pouches Just Rescued Big Tobacco's Year.
British American Tobacco lifted its profit outlook as booming Velo pouch sales and a strong US run offset shrinking cigarette demand — even as it cuts thousands of jobs.
Business Bagel News
Daily news from the Business Bagel desk — the markets, money and company stories shaping South Africa, reported fast and kept clear.
Pep's Owner Says It's Building Its Own Bank — On Its Own
Pepkor shot down a report that it was teaming up with Standard Bank to take on Capitec, insisting its own bank is still on track for 2027.
Foschini's Boss Just Took a 59% Pay Cut. His Stores Are Next.
After a year of falling profit and a share price cut in half, The Foschini Group slashed its CEO's pay to R18.5 million and lined up hundreds of stores to close.
Editor’s pick
Apple's Record Quarter Came With a Near-$500 Billion Hangover
The iPhone maker posted its strongest-ever June quarter, then watched a looming memory-chip shortage knock almost 10% off its share price.
A Faraway War Is Emptying South African Planes
FlySafair says domestic demand has fallen about 14% since the Middle East conflict sent jet-fuel prices soaring and priced ordinary travellers out of their seats.
Big story
Anglo American Is Betting Everything on Copper
Record copper prices tripled the dividend and lifted core profit by more than a third, but writing down the coal business it is selling still tipped Anglo into a loss.
Microsoft's AI Cloud Is Minting Money, Even as Xbox Keeps Slipping
A record year for Azure and a $3.2 billion windfall on its Anthropic stake carried Microsoft past $90 billion in quarterly sales, while the games and Windows businesses stalled.
BMW Is Cutting Thousands of Jobs as the Good Times Fade
A deal with its own workers will shrink the German carmaker by a reported 8,000 people, after quarterly profit tumbled and Chinese sales slid.
Woolworths' New Boss Has Inherited an Old Problem
A solid year on paper hides a second half knocked off course by the Middle East war and rising interest rates, just as a new chief executive settles into the job.
South Africa Wants to Know Why It's So Hard to Buy Into a Franchise
The Competition Commission has opened a sweeping inquiry into the R1-trillion sector behind KFC, Spar and Pick n Pay, asking whether the deck is stacked against the small players trying to get in.
A World Cup gave Coca-Cola its best quarter in years
Coca-Cola beat expectations and raised its full-year outlook, crediting a global World Cup marketing blitz for a jump in demand.
PayPal to its lurking suitor: not at that price
After beating earnings, PayPal signalled a $53.4 billion takeover bid from Stripe and Advent undervalues it, without ruling a deal out.