South Africa

Shares in Steinhoff have fallen by over 12% in trading on Tuesday as the firm informed the Dutch regulator that it would not be publishing its 2017 financial results by January 31.

Banks across the Street have sought to woo shareholders with business models that celebrate the holy matrimony between Steady Eddie wealth management and (supposedly) reformed wild child investment banking. But the repercussions on bank earnings from the demise of South African retailer Steinhoff are a reminder that the course of true love never did run smooth.

Investec plc, the South African bank’s UK branch, has signed a loan for $450m — growing to more than double its launch amount of $200m after being three times subscribed.

Steinhoff International has sold a second chunk of its stake in PSG Group, the South African financial services company, in as many months, as Steinhoff struggles to stabilise itself after its disastrous revelation that three years' accounts will need restating.

Investec Bank plc, the South African bank’s UK branch, is expected to sign a loan to refinance a $300m facility signed in 2015.

Two large South African corporates are due to refinance some loans in the coming weeks, according to bankers close to the deals, who expect activity in the country to be high this quarter.

South African telecommunications company MTN Group is holding a non-deal roadshow in Taipei this month.

Steinhoff International, the retail conglomerate listed in Johannesburg and Frankfurt, said on Tuesday that its numbers for 2015 were unreliable and that prior years may also need to be restated.

How the Schuldschein market reacts when a borrower has payment difficulties has been a perennial question since the instrument reached a global audience. The revelations about possible false accounting at Steinhoff are likely to prove one of the market's biggest tests yet.

Steinhoff International’s shares jolted downwards again today as it met its banks in London, seeking their support to get through the difficulties caused by apparent false accounting.

Moody’s published a cautious note on Tuesday in response to “business-friendly candidate” Cyril Ramaphosa’s slim victory in South Africa’s African National Congress (ANC) presidential elections on Monday. But the agency acknowledged that, if implemented, Ramaphosa’s reform priorities could “begin to address the weaknesses flagged” when the agency put South Africa on review for downgrade.

The travails of Steinhoff International, the embattled South African retail holding company, deepened today as Christo Wiese, the entrepreneur who has built up the business, resigned as chairman.