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31/10/2025

WeBuyCars under siege

The WeBuyCars share price plummeted by 13.57% on Tuesday after a trading update disappointed investors.

On Tuesday, 28 October 2025, WeBuyCars published a trading statement on the anticipated financial results for the year ended 30 September 2025.

It said it was set to report an increase in headline earnings of over 100%, with core headline earnings rising by between 12% and 17%.

However, due to the issuance of 83 million new shares in the past financial year, core headline earnings per share are only expected to rise by between 0.8% and 6%.

The issuance of these new shares in February, March, and April 2024 also distorts the basic earnings per share and headline earnings per share of the company.

These new shares bring the total weighted average number of ordinary shares at 30 September 2025 to 417,401,341, up from 375,029,205 in 2024.

It said these new shares were issued in terms of the company’s pre-listing capital raise, which was approved by shareholders prior to the listing of WeBuyCars on the JSE.

WeBuyCars said its basic earnings will rise by more than 100% from R343.1 million in 2024 to over R926.8 million when it releases results next month.

As a result, basic earnings per share will also rise by more than 100%. The company expects headline earnings per share to more than double.

Investors did not like the trading update, and the WeBuyCars share price fell 13.57% on the day.

We Buy Cars’ market cap fell from R22.5 billion on the closing price of 27 October to R19.5 billion on the closing price of 28 October 2025.

Analyst opinion on WeBuyCars

Shane Watkins, chief investment officer at All Weather Capital, explained that investors were expecting earnings of R2.50 per share.

When the company reported earnings of R2.14 to R2.15, which was essentially flat, the market reacted negatively.

The reason is that WeBuyCars is viewed as a growth stock. “The share is expensive, and expensive shares cannot disappoint,” Watkins explained.

He explained that it was not uncommon for the share price of growth companies to plummet by between 10% and 20% when their results are disappointing.

Watkins explained that twenty years ago, a share price would fall by a few percent when it released disappointing results.

“Today, if the results disappoint in any way, it falls ten to twenty per cent, much higher than previously,” he said.

The reason is that the local market has many foreign investors which shoot first and ask questions later.

Mark du Toit from Oyster Catcher Investments highlighted that this was only a trading update with very little information.

He advised investors to wait for the full results to assess the company’s prospects and see whether it is a good investment.

“They had a good first half. The trading update shows that they had a much slower second half,” he said.

Watkins added that there is widespread speculation that cheap Chinese cars entering the South African market are putting pressure on WeBuyCars.

With the much lower entry point for new cars, which is often cheaper than many used cars, the secondhand car market is taking strain.

“Many South Africans may prefer to buy a cheap new Chinese car rather than a secondhand Corolla,” he said

31/10/2025

Major Chinese carmaker building new SUV in South Africa

BAIC says its new B30 SUV will be assembled locally at the company’s Coega facility in Gqeberha.

The Chinese car brand said that the manufacturing marks a major step in the brand’s long-term commitment to the South African market.

The B30 will officially launch in November 2025, with local assembly starting shortly after launch.

The company said that the local manufacturing reinforces BAIC’s strategy to build key models on South African soil and expand the plant’s production facility.

“Localising the B30 is about more than manufacturing – it’s about investing in people, skills, and a sustainable automotive future for South Africa,” said Ameena Hassan, Brand & PR Manager at BAIC South Africa. “

“Our Coega facility was built to support long-term growth, and the addition of the B30 underscores our confidence in this market and our intention to become a truly local brand.”

The R11 billion Coega plan, which was one of the largest industrial investments in South Africa’s automotive sector, currently assembles the BAIC B40 Plus and X55 Plus models.

The company said that the new B30 SUV is set to expand capacity and sustain hundreds of local jobs across production, logistics, and dealership networks.

The localisation of the B30 strengthens its supply-chain resilience and reduces import dependency.

It will also open opportunities for future component sourcing through South African suppliers.

“We see South Africa as the gateway to the continent,” Hassan added.

“Building the B30 locally allows us to deliver vehicles faster, tailor them to local conditions, and invest directly in the communities that support us.”

BAIC’s push into its existing facility comes amid serious challenges facing its European and American competitors in South Africa.

Ford Motors is scaling back in South Africa, with close to 500 workers across its plants in Pretoria and Gqeberha being retrenched.

Ford’s decision follows a decline in European demand for its vehicles, especially the Ranger pickup, as well as changes in international tax policy that have disrupted its export strategy.

BMW is looking to move its locally manufactured vehicles to new markets, particularly Canada, due to the tariffs from the United States.

Chinese companies pushing into Africa

BAIC is not the only major Chinese automaker increasingly focusing on South Africa.

Chery and Haval continue to make a mark in the passenger market due to their affordable prices compared to competitors.

Meanwhile, BYD, the world’s largest automaker of new energy vehicles, recently announced a massive infrastructure push in South Africa.

Speaking with BusinessTech earlier this month, BYD Vice President Stella Li said the company invests in 300 electric chargers in South Africa, including 1MW chargers.

The new stations will start off by being expanded in the group’s dealerships, then expand to the nation’s highways, and finally, to congested downtwon areas.

BYD is also looking to expand its solar coverage across South Africa on top of its massive charging expansion.

However, Li admitted that BYD is a new player in South Africa, and needs more time before thinking of building a factory in South Africa

31/10/2025

Storm brewing for airports in South Africa

South Africa’s shortage of air-traffic controllers is “almost compromising service delivery” by the state-owned company that manages the nation’s airspace.

In its 2025 annual report, the state-owned Air Traffic and Navigation Services (ATNS) said that the exodus of skilled personnel from its ranks is exacerbated by international peers poaching its staff.

ATNS, which has the sole responsibility of ensuring air safety in South Africa, has launched a project to attract back lost skills in a process that may involve reviewing its pay.

“International providers offer remuneration and other incentives that ATNS cannot match. ATNS launched an accelerated recruitment drive for vital roles, including air traffic service personnel, flight procedure designers, and engineers,” it says.

“This also involves encouraging previous ATNS employees to return to SA to bridge the current expertise gap within an 18-month to three-year timeframe.

“Aggressive global poaching, particularly from major airports following events such as the Fifa World Cup Qatar 2022, further compounded the issue,” it added.

“As controllers are licensed for specific stations, rapid replacement is difficult. Moreover, retention is complicated by challenges extending beyond financial incentives.”

Aviation analyst Guy Leitch has raised serious concerns about the ongoing exodus of skilled professionals from South Africa’s aviation sector, warning that the trend is putting service delivery, safety, and the country’s global reputation at risk.

Leitch explained that South Africa is losing a significant portion of its aviation talent to international markets, particularly to the Middle East.

“Not only is South Africa losing significant talent from the aviation industry to international markets, more specifically, if you take a look at the Middle East, but we also find ourselves competing for international talent by not having them be paid adequately,” he said.

This shortage affects not only cabin crew and pilots but also critical air traffic controllers and back-office staff at organisations such as ATNS, who manage the approval of instrument flight procedures.

“The solution is that we’ve got to be training up our own people faster than we’re losing them, and that’s just not happening at this stage,” Leitch stressed.

The knock-on effects are huge

Leitch highlighted that South Africa’s advantage as an English-speaking country, coupled with the global shortage of air traffic controllers, makes local skills highly sought after worldwide.

“South African skills are in demand right across the world,” he said. Yet the country often pays less than international standards, relying on the allure of lifestyle and quality of life to retain talent.

“As a pilot once said to me, it’s very tempting to go and fly in the Far East for a Chinese airline for typically three times as much as we get paid here. But hey, who am I gonna drink beer with around the braai on Friday nights?”

This lifestyle factor enables companies to pay up to 33% less than global rates, but Leitch warned that if the pay gap narrows, the exodus will accelerate, and the industry risks a crisis.

The problem, Leitch noted, is not only financial. “It’s not so much the investment, it’s the approach to aviation,” he explained.

For many, especially from previously disadvantaged communities, aviation careers remain cloaked in mystique, with misconceptions about the skills required.

“People just think, oh, I could never fly an aeroplane or become an air traffic controller because you’ve got to be so clever and you’ve got to have maths and science as a basic qual,” he said.

Leitch believes the industry must demystify careers, showing the breadth of opportunities beyond piloting, including engineering, air traffic management, and other civil aviation roles.

Leadership and workplace culture also play a pivotal role in retaining talent. Leitch cited ATNS as an example, noting that the CEO has been suspended for months without a replacement, which has contributed to a toxic environment.

ATNS has spent millions on retention, relocation, recruitment, and housing allowances.

However, Leitch argued that improving workplace culture is a cheaper and more effective solution. The impact of these talent shortages is already being felt across the aviation system.

He pointed to the suspension of 226 instrument flight procedures, which have severely disrupted airline operations in areas including Mpolokwane, Kruger National Park, Mpumalanga, Umtata, Richards Bay, and even Cape Town.

“If the instrument flight procedures are suspended, the airlines won’t be able to land in Cape Town in bad weather,” he explained.

“The knock-on effects are not just the hundreds of millions of rands which the airlines are moaning about, but the consequences to the overall economy and tourism are absolutely calculable.”

“For every $1 spent on an airline ticket, it creates another $30 of broader value in the economy. So we’re losing massive amounts of money because of these suspended flight procedures, and that’s multiplied by 30 in terms of its impact on tourism, connectivity, and investment.”

31/10/2025

What NERSA doesn’t want you to know about electricity prices in South Africa

The National Energy Regulator of South Africa (NERSA) has argued in court that municipal customers have no right to know what councils pay Eskom for electricity.

Civil action organisation AfriForum challenged the approval of municipal electricity tariff hikes in court, arguing that submissions lacked proper cost-of-supply studies and sufficient public participation.

In its application, AfriForum requests that the energy regulator’s public participation process be declared invalid due to the lack of opportunities for the public to provide input.

It further requested that the court issue an interdict to ensure specified timelines for future public participation processes, to which three municipalities agreed.

“Nersa argued that cost studies do not need to be published with applications, as they are confidential, and that their technical nature ensures that only their expertise is sufficient to interpret them,” AfriForum said.

This prompted Judge Etienne Labuschagne to question how the public could be expected to provide valuable contributions without the necessary information—a question Nersa had no answer for.

Energy expert Ruse Moleshe questioned the NERSA’s stance that the public has no right to know how much municipalities pay Eskom for electricity before reselling it to residents.

“In other words, NERSA is saying that the public would have no right to know how much profit the municipality makes when it on-sells that electricity to consumers,” said Moleshe.

Moleshe noted that while there may be certain cases where information could justifiably be protected, South Africa’s laws generally favour openness, but it depends on what type of information it is.

“If it’s proprietary information that could impact other players in the market from a competition point of view, there could be an argument that only sanitised or aggregated data is released,” she explained.

“But in general, South Africa is a consultative democracy—that’s enshrined in our Constitution.”

Don’t get too optimistic about electricity costs

She added that the legislative framework already places obligations on municipalities to be transparent about their operations.

“Barring areas where there’s potential commercial sensitivity or competition-related issues, I would think councils have other duties to tell us anyway,” said Moleshe.

“Surely, entities like City Power have to publish annual reports in Johannesburg, and from that, we should be able to see what their electricity costs are.”

Moleshe noted that Eskom’s own pricing processes are relatively transparent compared to municipalities.

“If you look at Eskom’s multi-year price determination process, it’s quite clear how the formula is made and what information is considered,” she said.

“However, you wouldn’t necessarily get the fine details of individual contracts, and that’s why I say it depends on the specifics.”

She said that the current debate around municipal electricity tariffs forms part of a broader reassessment of how tariffs are calculated in South Africa.

“There’s a big study being carried out by Sedi on how tariffs are structured. The issue isn’t just about having access to electricity and avoiding load shedding—affordability has become the major problem,” Moleshe explained.

Despite ongoing efforts to reform the sector, Moleshe expressed caution about expecting rapid changes to electricity costs.

“I’m not as optimistic as the minister and others are. That’s because I’m aware of the capital requirements for maintaining and upgrading the infrastructure we have” she said.

“Under South African law, it’s a user-pays system. So while we might see some efficiencies and small cost reductions here and there, overall, I don’t foresee a big bang impact on prices.”

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