Today's edition
Sports Pass
Good morning. DStv appears to be pulling sport out of its most expensive package, so a household can finally buy the rugby without the Binnelanders. Meanwhile, Volkswagen and Ford spent this week asking government for protection from Chinese cars, and Motus spent the year putting those same cars into its showrooms.
Everyone is deciding what to keep out and what to let in. Let's get into it.
MARKETS
SPORTING CHANCE
DStv is taking sport out of Premium, and not one of the five prices is changing
For twenty years DStv has been sold as one ladder: five packages, climbing, with the sport most people actually want near the top of it. On Friday night MultiChoice put pages describing a completely new line-up on the DStv website, then took them down. MyBroadband had already saved the screenshots. According to this line-up, from 17 September these packages come into effect.
Where some of these packages land:
- Starter carries 85 channels for R99, including a Premier League match of the week and the kykNET and Kie channel for Afrikaans viewers.
- Sports, at R399, is the old Compact package rebuilt around the games: Premier League and European football, T20 cricket, local rugby and one United Rugby Championship match a week.
- Premium keeps everything at R799, which is what it costs today.
Before you start popping bottles, it's worth noting that nothing appears to actually gets cheaper. MultiChoice has a briefing diarised in Johannesburg for 7 September, where an announcement is likely, but it has not confirmed any of it yet.
LEVEL BEST
Volkswagen and Ford asked Pretoria for a level playing field, and the trade regulator announced a China deal
Volkswagen has been building cars at Kariega since 1951, and on Monday night it turned the final assembly line into a black tie venue for its 75th birthday, with President Cyril Ramaphosa giving the keynote. Ford published a manifesto the next morning, opening its second century in the country. Both asked for the same thing, in the same words: a level playing field against imported cars. On Tuesday the trade regulator announced that it had renewed its cooperation agreement with China.
The two are not in conflict, exactly. Itac's deal with China's trade remedies bureau, signed in Beijing on 26 August, covers shared information on imports said to be priced unfairly low, and the day before announcing it the same commission put provisional duties of up to 28.11% on Chinese colour coated steel. What the carmakers want is not Itac's to give: Ford named the automotive support programme it wants rewritten, and that sits with the government. Chinese brands took more than 19% of new passenger and light commercial vehicle sales in the first quarter, on TransUnion's count.
Ramaphosa told the Kariega dinner that the automotive masterplan and the wider policy framework are under review. He did not say when the review ends.
BAGEL BITE
What gives chilli peppers their spicy heat?
A. Capsaicin
B. Piperine
C. Allyl Isothiocyanate
DOING THE ROUNDS
Shoprite's Sixty60 sold R25.5 billion of groceries in a year, picked off the shop floor. Shoprite built three warehouses for delivery in 2019, decided quickly that the model would not work, and fell back on the supermarkets it already had, which sit within five kilometres of 90% of the customers it could serve. On-demand sales rose 34.5% last year. Asked whether a rival could build the same thing, Pieter Engelbrecht said they could, and pointed at the business system that went in during 2017. Another R7.7 billion goes into technology, supply chain and stores this year. Full story →
Motus stopped fighting the Chinese brands and started selling them. Sales of Chinese and Indian brands through its South African dealerships grew more than 200% last year, and R63 million went into one Garsfontein showroom so it could carry Chery, Omoda and Jaecoo under one roof. Revenue rose 1% to R113.6 billion while profit before tax rose 20%, because the company spent its cash paying borrowings down and the interest bill fell by nearly a fifth. The final dividend of 410 cents is paid on 5 October. Full story →
Apple has had three chief executives this century, and the third started on Tuesday. John Ternus joined the product design team in 2001 and has run hardware engineering since 2021. A filing gives him a $3 million salary and a target share award of $55 million from next year, three quarters of it paid only if Apple beats the rest of the S&P 500. Tim Cook stays on as executive chairman on a package worth $47 million, engaging with policymakers around the world. Full story →
Goldman Sachs told clients South Africa gets its investment grade rating back in 2028. The bank says markets have not priced it in. A team including the economist Andrew Matheny sees room for the ten year government bond yield to fall more than a percentage point, to 7.6%, and about 9% of upside on the rand. South Africa was cut to junk in 2017, and all three big agencies still rate it two notches below investment grade. 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: A. Capsaicin
Capsaicin activates heat sensing receptors in your mouth, making your brain feel a burning sensation even though the food itself is not physically hot. The more capsaicin a chilli contains, the hotter it tastes, which is measured in Scoville Heat Units. It can also trigger sweating, watering eyes and a runny nose because your body reacts as if it needs to cool down.
That's your Thursday done. Enjoyed it? Forward it on, a friend can subscribe in a click. Written by the Business Bagel crew.
