Observer Money

Staff Writer Trustco Group Holdings Limited has issued a quarterly update to shareholders on matters linked to the suspension of its shares, outlining progress on its audit process and engagements with regulators. The group referred shareholders to its announcement of 15 October 2025, in which it confirmed that the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) had indicated it had no objection to Trustco appointing two separate audit firms.  Under this arrangement, a South African audit firm will work alongside the already appointed associated Namibian audit firm to audit the group’s annual financial statements. Trustco said this approach will result in two separate…

Chamwe Kaira Simonis Storm says credit and liquidity data for December 2025 show that monetary easing is continuing to filter through to the real economy, although at a measured and uneven pace as once-off liquidity effects linked to the Eurobond redemption fade. Private sector credit growth eased slightly to 4.4% year on year in December 2025, down from 4.5% in November.  This points to a gradual loss of momentum as the year came to an end. Despite the slowdown, Simonis Storm said credit growth remains well above the weak levels seen in 2023 and early 2024. This suggests an improvement…

Chamwe Kaira The Namibian Securities Exchange (NSX) overall index closed higher in the week ended 30 January 2026, rising 0.85% to 2 259.63 points from 2 240.49 the previous week, supported by gains across several sectors. The NSX Local Index also edged up, increasing 0.15% to 811.16 points. The index delivered an actual dividend yield of 8.54% and has shown limited movement since December 2025. In contrast, the JSE all share index declined over the same period. The index fell 1.83% week on week to 120 046 points from 122 281. Despite the weekly drop, it remained 3.64% above its…

Staff Writer Pepkor Holdings Limited reported a 12.9% increase in group revenue from continuing operations to N$29.9 billion for the three months ended 31 December 2025.  The growth was supported by acquisitions, strong credit growth, and improved trading across several divisions. Excluding acquisitions completed during 2025, group revenue increased by 8.3%.  Group sales rose by 10.6% for the quarter, or 5.2% excluding acquisitions, while like-for-like sales increased by 3.0%. In Southern Africa, excluding PEP Africa and Avenida, like-for-like sales grew by 2%. This followed a strong comparison base of 9.6% growth in the same quarter last year. Outside Southern Africa,…

Chamwe Kaira  Cattle marketing in Namibia fell to 192 300 head in 2025, the lowest level recorded since 2006, according to the Namibia Agriculture Union (NAU). The union said the decline does not signal weakness in the livestock sector but reflects decisions taken by producers in response to prolonged drought. “This decline should not be interpreted as a deterioration in the livestock sector; rather, it reflects a rational production response to prolonged drought conditions. Producers deliberately reduced offtake in order to prioritise herd rebuilding and restore productive capacity,” the union said. Cattle marketing had generally increased since 2006 and peaked…

Chamwe Kaira  The Bank of Namibia (BoN), acting as agent for government debt issuance and management, conducted its first treasury bills auction for 2026 last Thursday, with demand remaining firm across all maturities. The auction, held on 29 January 2026, attracted total bids of about N$2.2 billion, with N$1.512 billion allocated across four treasury bill tenors.  The bills covered 90-day, 182-day, 273-day and 364-day maturities and all settled on 30 January.  Bid-to-cover ratios ranged between 1.10 and 1.97, showing continued investor interest in short-term government paper. For the 90-day treasury bill maturing on 30 April 2026, the government allocated N$352…

Chamwe Kaira  Namibia’s stock of international reserves rose at the end of December 2025, supported mainly by net inflows of the South African rand and revaluation gains, the Bank of Namibia (BoN) has reported. Official reserves increased by 4.9% month-on-month to N$51.6 billion.  The rise was driven by strong net rand inflows linked to portfolio investment, as well as favourable price movements in some fixed-income securities held by the central bank. At this level, the international reserves were sufficient to cover an estimated 3.3 months of imports.  When oil and gas exploration and appraisal-related imports are excluded, import cover improves…

Staff Writer Global air cargo demand reached a record level in 2025, according to full-year and December data released by the International Air Transport Association (IATA). Full-year demand in 2025, measured in cargo tonne-kilometres, rose by 3.4% compared to 2024. International operations recorded higher growth of 4.2%.  Cargo capacity increased by 3.7% over the same period, with international capacity up by 5.1%. December 2025 closed the year on a strong note. Global demand was 4.3% higher than in December 2024, while international demand rose by 5.5%.  Global capacity increased by 4.5%, with international capacity up by 6.4%. IATA reported that…

Staff Writer  Global passenger demand reached record levels in 2025, even as airlines faced aircraft delivery delays, maintenance backlogs and rising costs that limited capacity growth, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said. In its full-year and December 2025 passenger market performance report released on 29 January 2026 in Geneva, IATA said total global demand, measured in revenue passenger kilometres, increased by 5.3% compared to 2024.  Capacity, measured in available seat kilometres, rose by 5.2%, pushing the overall passenger load factor to a record 83.6% for the year. International travel drove most of the growth. Full-year international demand rose by…

Staff Writer Global asset manager Ninety One expects to complete the South African leg of its acquisition of Sanlam Investment Management Proprietary Limited this week. This marks the start of a long-term strategic relationship with the Sanlam Group. The transaction follows joint announcements made by Ninety One and Sanlam in November 2024 and March 2025, when the two groups outlined plans to form a long-term active asset management partnership.  The deal involves Ninety-One Limited acquiring all the shares in Sanlam Investment Management and formally launching an initial 15-year strategic relationship with Sanlam once the transaction is completed. As part of…