Today's edition
Call Dropped
Good morning. It's results season, and the scoreboard has stopped making sense. MTN posted its best numbers in years and had its worst day on the JSE; Apple delivered its strongest-ever June quarter and shed close to half a trillion dollars by the next bell. Records up top, red on the screen. When the figures and the market can't agree, the interesting part is always why. Let's get into it.
MARKETS
CROSSED LINES
MTN's Best Numbers in Years Triggered Its Worst Day on the JSE
MTN opened earnings season with the kind of half most firms would frame on the wall, and its shareholders responded by selling. In Nigeria, its biggest market, profit after tax jumped about 71% to N707.5 billion, service revenue rose almost 26% to nearly N3 trillion, and the group added 4.9 million subscribers to reach 92.2 million. Then MTN's Johannesburg-listed shares fell almost 10%, the worst on the exchange that day. Two things spooked the market: a mobile-money stumble, after new Nigerian consumer rules forced it to halt the airtime advances driving that income, and a surprise Ghana lawsuit over who really built its mobile-money service.
What spooked the market:
- Nigeria profit after tax up ~71% to N707.5bn; service revenue up nearly 26%, ahead of the group's own medium-term target.
- Fintech revenue fell ~7% for the half (about 72% in Q2 alone) after new consumer-protection rules halted its airtime and data-credit advances.
- A Ghanaian firm, Clydestone, is suing over the 2007 blueprint behind MTN's mobile money — a platform now carrying ~70 million users and $500bn-plus in 2025 transactions.
The question now: whether the Nigerian fintech dip is a one-quarter blip or the start of a trend, and how quickly Ghana's courts move.
TRADING UP
South Africans Are Drinking Less Beer. SAB Still Made More Money.
South African Breweries pulled off a neat trick last quarter: it sold less beer and still made more money. Volumes of its core brands slipped as cash-strapped drinkers bought fewer rounds, yet revenue rose and margins widened, because the beer people did buy was pricier. The lever is premiumisation — steering drinkers towards higher-value labels. SAB's premium beers, Corona among them, grew volumes in the high twenties and gained share. It's the same playbook powering parent AB InBev worldwide, where quarterly revenue rose about 6% to $16.6 billion even as total volumes barely moved.
With fuller wallets nowhere in sight, expect SAB to keep pouring its marketing muscle into the pricier brands, because that's where the profit now lives.
BAGEL BITE
Which tropical cyclone was the largest ever recorded by physical diameter?
A. Hurricane Patricia
B. Hurricane Wilma
C. Typhoon Tip
DOING THE ROUNDS
Apple posted its best-ever June quarter, then fell almost 10%. Revenue hit $109.4 billion (up 16%) and iPhone sales jumped 22%, but finance chief Kevan Parekh warned memory-chip costs will climb as the AI boom soaks up supply. The slide wiped close to $500 billion and briefly handed Nvidia the most-valuable crown — a rough farewell for Tim Cook, whose last results as CEO these were. Full story →
Foschini's boss just took a 59% pay cut, and his stores are next. Anthony Thunström's package fell to about R18.5 million after basic earnings per share dropped 58% and the share halved; both he and his finance chief gave up their bonuses. Now TFG has lined up 300 weak stores to close, leaning on its online arm Bash to run a leaner, more capital-light business. Full story →
Pep's owner says it's building its own bank — on its own. Within hours, Pepkor denied a Business Day report that it was in talks with Standard Bank to take on Capitec. It insists nothing's changed: it's "only one step away" from bank registration, built on its 17-million-member +more base, with its PlusB lender still pencilled in for 2027. Full story →
Cigarettes are fading, but nicotine pouches just rescued Big Tobacco's year. British American Tobacco lifted its profit outlook as Velo pouch sales grew 18% and a strong US run offset shrinking demand in Asia, taking it to 35 million smokeless users. The catch: a sweeping, AI-driven overhaul will cut about 5,500 jobs and outsource 3,500 more. Full story →
WEATHER
BAGEL GAMES
Have you got what it takes to win today’s Wordle? Play here →
THE ANSWER
As for the Bagel Bite, the answer is: C. Typhoon Tip.
Typhoon Tip became the largest tropical cyclone ever recorded when its gale force winds extended about 1,100 kilometres from its centre, creating a diameter of approximately 2,200 kilometres across the western Pacific Ocean in October 1979. It also holds the record for the lowest atmospheric pressure measured in a tropical cyclone, reaching 870 millibars. However, Hurricane Patricia was stronger by wind speed, tying the global record with sustained winds of 345 kilometres per hour in 2015. Hurricanes, typhoons and cyclones are the same type of storm, but they receive different names depending on where they form.
That's your Monday wrap. Enjoyed it? Forward it on — a friend can subscribe in a click. Written by the Business Bagel crew.
