BizNews Radio

Many insurance companies have woken up to the fact that a system of getting information from their customers by filling in forms has not served them or their customers well. Health and life insurers are now offering smartwatches or wearables to their customers to be able to track their health and wellness, which can lead to behavioural changes and can also reward customers for good behaviour. A South African actuary, Dino Bertolis wants to expand wearables to the car insurance market; he has launched a start-up called Breez, with which he is planning to disrupt the UK car insurance market. Bertolis told BizNews he has managed to raise £200,000 (R4m) in a private funding round for his venture. – Linda van Tilburg

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In episode 4 of the newest BizNews offering, editor Alec Hogg and deputy Michael Appel share insights into the news you need to know from the week that was - Hogg on business and investments, Appel on news and politics. In focus this episode, the latest on Netflix's torrid quarterly results, as well as the Naspers/Prosus discount closing strategy that keeps on failing; a story of triumph for small community radio station Pretoria FM over Primedia Broadcasting; President Cyril Ramaphosa seeks to allay the country's fears that relief funds meant for KZN will be looted; Cape Independence advocate Phil Craig on the prospect of a Western Cape breakaway; Forensic Investigator Paul O' Sullivan has launched his new book Stop Me If You Can.

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In this podcast, TreasuryONE's Andre Cilliers shares his insights into the likely currency movements - putting his excellent recent forecasting record at risk. The currency strategist unpacks reasons for the Rand's volatility, why SA's exchange rate moves in bands, and the danger points to watch out for. Cilliers also provides some insight into the impact which three major global issues are likely to have on the local currency.

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Momentum for Cape Independence continues to grow, according to the leading advocacy group's Phil Craig. To illustrate its growing on-the-ground support, the movement is to hold a march through the streets of Cape Town on Wednesday's Freedom Day public holiday. It has approval for 2 000 marchers, who will assemble at the Grand Parade, although Craig reckons anything over 1 000 people would be regarded as a good turnout. Its purpose is to hand over a letter urging the DA to table a private member's bill in Parliament that would enable Referendums to be held at provincial level. This would open the way for an official Referendum on the matter for the Western Cape, which the proponents of independence say is a major step towards transforming the province into a separate country.

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Sean Peche is happy that value investors like himself are emerging from the wilderness, but says share price wipeouts like Netflix don't suddenly transform 'growth' stocks into investment opportunities. Using Netflix as a reference point, he cautions that although now ex-growth, the company's shares are still trading at three times revenues - and after accounting properly for content costs, its profit margins are very low. In this instructive interview with BizNews editor Alec Hogg, a long-time Netflix fan, the Ranmore Funds founder explains why he will NOT be following supposed bargain hunters into buying Netflix shares. Indeed, he reckons the numbers from the world's dominant movie streaming business are a warning of more shocks next week when the really big tech companies' quarterlies are released.

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A South African cultured meat start-up company, Mogale Meat, has created the first cell-based chicken on the continent after only 18 months of research and development. The lab-grown chicken breast is the company’s entry for the $15m XPRIZE Feed the Next Billion competition and has earned it a place in the semi-finals as the only entrant from Africa. The founder and CEO of the Mogale Meat, Dr Paul Bartels, told BizNews the company grew chicken in the lab for the competition, but its main focus is on cultivating game meat products. He hopes products like a Big 5 burger and Springbok carpaccio could be developed and the company is working towards establishing bioreactors in neighbourhoods, which would be like a local mini meat ‘brewery’. – Linda van Tilburg

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The Complaints and Compliance Committee of ICASA recently dismissed complaints laid against Pretoria FM by Primedia Broadcasting. Retired High Court Judge Thokozile Masipa and a panel of five committee members ruled against claims that Pretoria FM has been contravening its licence conditions and regulations. This is just the latest episode in a long history of litigation against the station explains Pretoria FM Executive Chairperson Willie Spies. Pretoria FM has faced a total of nine court cases over a period of close on two decades ventilated in the country's High Court, the Supreme Court of Appeal, and the Constitutional Court. The right of Pretoria FM - licensed to serve the interests of the Afrikaner community - to broadcast as a community radio station has been continually contested. In this interview with BizNews, Spies gives the background to Primedia's litigation and how Pretoria FM has slowly built itself up into a sustainable commercial entity within the broadcast space. Interestingly, Pretoria FM - perhaps considered as a bastion of Afrikanerdom - is currently involved in assisting an Nkandla-based isiZulu radio station ,Ngkungumathe in KwaZulu-Natal, to get off the ground.

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Two years after Naspers management began implementing an explicit "closing discount to NAV" strategy, the consequence has been the precise opposite of what was intended. Counterpoint's Piet Viljoen points out the stock's discount to its see-through asset value is now at an all-time high of 62%. Naspers accounts for a sizeable chunk of the JSE indices, so failure of this deliberate strategy has cost South African savers dearly. Bills for the company's expensive creation of offshore holding company Prosus, coupled with a massive share buyback programme at much higher levels than the current share price, run into hundreds of millions of dollars. Viljoen expressed his concerns in a tweet this morning. In this podcast, BizNews editor Alec Hogg asked him to why he felt strongly enough to express his criticism so publicly.

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Millennials are making their mark in the South African property market. According to statistics from Comcorp South Africa, they have in the past two years made up the lion’s share of bonded home loan applications. So, what are the other investment opportunities for people who are settling into their prime spending years? Megan Copley, the director of International Real Estate says anyone who has a bit of spare cash should seriously consider investing in overseas property. Copley has spent a considerable number of years working in the UK and European property markets and gave BizNews tips on which cities investors should consider. She said the overriding factor in an overseas property investment should be confidence in the country’s property market and not to fall in love with Victorian charm. – Linda van Tilburg

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In episode 3 of the newest BizNews offering, editor Alec Hogg and deputy Michael Appel share insights into the news you need to know from the week that was - Hogg on business and investments, Appel on news and politics. In focus this episode is Elon Musk's latest bid to buy Twitter for $54.20 a share; President Cyril Ramaphosa is in KwaZulu-Natal following deadly flooding that killed over 300 people; Capitec CEO Gerrie Fourie and their exponential journey that keeps on delivering; Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen battle it out in France's presidential elections on 24 April; unpacking the results of Purple Group; Jacob Zuma's corruption trial has been postponed again; Bosasa explainer piece discussed in the wake of the release of the third tranche coming out of the State Capture Inquiry.

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